Mens Mentis
by SGAngeL
Summary: Daniel and Sam are injured during a mission. When Daniel wakes up, he finds himself with an interesting new ability, but what about Sam? SamJack, DanSam friendship
1. Chapter 1

**Title:** "Mens Mentis" (previously "Aculeus")  
**Author: **SGAngeL  
**Sumary:** During a mission, Sam and Daniel are injured. When he wakes, Daniel find he has an interesting new ability, but what about Sam?  
**Season: **Season 7:Takes place after "Death Knell" but before "Heroes"  
**Pairing: **Sam/Jack, and Dan/Sam friendship  
**Disclaimer: **Stargate and its characters aren't mine, you're crazy if you think they are.  
**A/N:** Ok, I finally got this up! I started writing this longbefore "Realities Apart" even started, so it feels like forever for me.I was waiting for my friend to read this one before posting, but I sent it to her 2 weeks ago,and I guess she's busy. But it's finally here, and I'm really excited for this story! So, enjoy!

* * *

"Mens Mentis"

-Chapter 1-

P5X-420 was another one of those planets with trees and green grass. Colonel O'Neill, as always, was less than pleased.

Their mission was also something for Jack to frown upon. SG-7 had discovered some ruins, and Daniel had insisted that they check them out, sprouting off about the meaning of life, and what have you. Jack had pleaded with Hammond to let Daniel go along with another team, but much to Jack's liking, all of SG-1 had been ordered to go.

On the way to the ruins, they'd come a cross a building, and found a bunch of gizmos (as Jack had called them). So Sam and Daniel were checking them out, while Jack and Teal'c had gone to check out the area. Jack's attention had only been held long enough for Sam to tell him that no; there weren't any 'big honkin' space guns'.

"Any theory on who the people were that once lived here?" Sam asked Daniel. She picked up a spherical device which was flattened on one side. It looked suspiciously like a paper weight, and she placed it back on the table before moving further along to look at all the various devices strewn across the surface.

"I'm not sure yet, but it looks like all of these are from various different planets. It looks like a collection of some sort." Daniel looked curiously at small box which had its lid off, and colourful wires were tangled up inside of it. "It's also strange that this building is so far away from the ruins. That is if the ruins are from a city. So why would this building be all alone?"

"Maybe whoever lived here was a bit of a loner." Sam said as she spotted a small bed in the corner of the room.

"Well, I should be able to tell more once we get to the ruins. It's too bad SG-7 didn't get any pictures. I should be able to learn more from the writing. Whoever they were, they look pretty advanced. The architecture of this building alone is magnificent." Daniel was completely enthralled as his eyes looked around the room hungrily. He spotted an object that was shaped like a pyramid. As soon as his fingers touched it, the apex split open and the device opened up. It was covered in intricate little carvings, and at the base was a red dome.

"Sam! Come look at this!" He could barely hold in his excitement as he studied the strange device.

Sam reached Daniel and looked down at the device. "What do you think it is?"

"I have no idea." He reached his hand towards the small dome in the middle.

Sam placed a warning hand on his arm. "The Colonel said not to play with anything."

Daniel sighed, "I won't tell him if you won't." He continued, his hand reaching the smooth, red surface, and he tried pressing it lightly. Instantly, the red done began to glow, and a small humming emanated from the device.

"Do you think that's a good thing?" Daniel cast a worried glance in Sam's direction.

Before Sam could reply, he felt a tingling sensation run up his arm and throughout his body. The room began to spin around him, and everything went black.

* * *

"Unscheduled offworld activation! I repeat, Unscheduled offworld activation!" the klaxons blared as SF's rushed into the 'Gate Room. General Hammond made his way into the Control Room.

"Who is it Sergeant?" Although, he would bet his money that it was SG-1. They seemed to be magnets for trouble. How on earth could they run into trouble looking at ruins?

"It's SG-1, Sir." Sergeant Harriman reported, confirming Hammond's thoughts. "And we're receiving a radio transmission."

"We need a medic! Carter and Daniel are unconscious." Colonel O'Neill's panicked voice echoed throughout the control room.

Hammond nodded to Harriman, who proceeded to open the iris, and call for a med team.

"Ok, Colonel, you're clear to come through." Hammond left the 'Gate technician's side, and hurried to the 'Gate Room.

Teal'c stepped through the shimmering blue of the event horizon. In his arms he held the unconscious form of Daniel Jackson. Closely following behind, Colonel O'Neill stepped up beside him, carrying Major Carter.

At that moment, the medical team came rushing into the room with two gurneys. Jack carefully lowered his 2IC onto one, and Teal'c did the same with Daniel.

"Colonel, what happened?" Hammond frowned.

"Carter and Daniel were looking at some stuff they found in some building. Teal'c and I were checking out the area. When I radioed at the designated check in, they didn't respond. We ran back to the building and found them like that. They wouldn't wake up." Jack turned to Janet Fraiser, the CMO. "I couldn't find any physical injuries, I have no idea what happened." He frowned in consternation.

Janet nodded. "They both have a steady pulse; it's as if they're in a deep sleep. I'm going to run a few tests; see what I find."

Hammond nodded, and Fraiser followed the two gurneys out of the room.

"General?" Hammond's attention was drawn from the gurney's carrying two of his people, to the Colonel.

"Go ahead." Hammond knew that Jack wanted to be with his team mates.

Jack nodded to Hammond, and hurried out after Fraiser. Teal'c gave his trademark nod, and followed Jack.

* * *

"Honestly, I can't find anything wrong with either one of them. They're just sleeping." Janet looked helplessly at Jack, General Hammond and Teal'c.

"Well wake them up."

Teal'c looked to Jack. "If Doctor Fraiser were able to wake Major Carter and Daniel Jackson, do you not think she would have done so already?"

"Teal'c's right, we're just going to have to wait and see if they wake up themselves." Janet concluded while Jack scowled at Teal'c.

"Thank you Dr. Fraiser." Hammond nodded to her. "Inform me if their situation changes." He exited the room, leaving Jack and Teal'c standing with Fraiser in the Infirmary.

"I trust you two will be staying in here and harassing my staff?"

"Who me?" Jack gave her an innocent smile, and Janet chuckled quietly.

"I would not participate in such actions, Doctor Fraiser." Teal'c assured her.

"I'll be in my office," Janet said, with an amused smile. As soon as she reached her office, the smile was gone from her face to be replaced by a frown of helplessness. Although her job came with many pros, such as experiencing new medicines and technologies, her job also frequently included having the people whose health she was responsible for, fall into danger which she had no idea how to handle.

Shutting the door, Janet sat down at her desk to double check her results. She only hoped that she'd find something she missed the first dozen times she'd gone over them.

* * *

Jack ran a hand through his untamed hair. His eyes traveled from Sam's bed, to Daniel's, and back again. He was sitting at a vigil by Sam's side, while Teal'c did the same across the room by Daniel.

"Colonel O'Neill, do you require sustenance?" Teal'c suddenly spoke, breaking Jack from his thoughts.

"No," Jack replied curtly, only to be betrayed by his stomach when it growled.

Teal'cs' face twisted into an amused expression, and only those who knew him would've caught it. "I will return momentarily."

The large Jaffa exited the Infirmary, and Jack was left with only Daniel and Sam, who weren't much for conversationalists in their current state.

It was times like this that he would love to hear Daniel rant about ancient civilizations, or Sam prattle on about her latest experiment and sub-space wormholes.

It was definitely getting old; in fact, it had gotten old the first time one of them had ended up in the Infirmary. How many more times would they have to go through this? Jack's eyes couldn't help but land on Sam's face as he thought this. He noticed how peaceful she looked, and a small smile breached his lips. A strand of her blonde hair had fallen over her face, and with his right hand, Jack reached and wiped it away. As soon as he'd done this, he jerked his hand away, looking around guiltily. Thankfully, nobody was in the room, except for him, Sam and Daniel.

* * *

Darkness had seemed to consume him, until he heard the faintest voice. Daniel reached out with his mind, willing himself to make sense of the mumbled works, and pull himself from the darkness. Slowly, Jack's voice floated through his head. He could feel a hard mattress beneath him, and the texture of the familiar white sheets of the Infirmary.

Daniel concentrated on Jack's voice again. If he was in the Infirmary, then Jack was no doubt troubling one of the nurses again.

The dimmed lights of the room stung his eyes when he opened them, and he quickly squeezed them shut again. Trying again, he squinted across the room. Jack was sitting in a chair next to another bed. A mop of short blonde hair could be seen on the pillow. _Sam! _She was undoubtedly unconscious.

He heard Jack's voice again, and, seeing nobody else in the room, he frowned. "Talking to yourself, Jack?" A searing pain ripped though his head, causing him to wince.

Jack turned at the sound of Daniel's voice. "Hey." He got up from his seat, and made his way over to his friend's bedside. "You're awake."

"No, I'm sleep-talking." Daniel replied sarcastically, while pinching the bridge of his nose. "So, what happened?"

"We were hoping you could tell us. T' and I found you and Carter unconscious."

"Is she ok?"

"She hasn't woken up yet." Jack spoke sullenly.

Another jolt of pain ripped through Daniel's skull, and he closed his eyes tightly, trying to shut out the pain.

"Daniel? You ok?"

Just as suddenly as it had come, the pain subsided, and he opened his eyes to Jack's worried gaze. "Headache."

"I'll go and get Fraiser." Jack hurried away to the Doctor's office. As he did, Daniel heard Jack's voice. _"Hopefully Sam wakes soon."_ It sounded like a whisper, and had Jack just called her Sam? He shook his head as it began to throb again, and eased his head back onto the pillow.

* * *

"Well, Daniel's fine, despite a headache. I don't see why he can't be out of the Infirmary as early as tonight." Janet informed General Hammond in the Briefing Room. "I'd just like to keep a watch on him for a little longer. As for Sam, she hasn't woken up yet, but with Daniel awake, it should be anytime for her now."

"Should we be concerned that she hasn't woken yet?" Hammond asked.

"I honestly don't know, Sir. I think we should wait a few more hours before getting too worried."

General Hammond nodded, and turned to Jack. "Did Dr. Jackson say what happened?"

"All he said was that he found some device which he picked up, and he can't recall anything after that, even though I did tell them not to play with anything."

"Daniel Jackson's current condition may or may not have anything to do with the device." Teal'c added.

"Well, let's see what happens with Major Carter. Dismissed." Hammond concluded the meeting, and exited to his office.

Jack was quickly out of his chair, racing off to the Infirmary.

Sam was still unconscious when he got there, and he felt his heart sink a little lower. Every second that went by and she didn't wake up; the less likely it was that should would. Jack didn't need to be a genius to know that.

"She will wake up, Jack." Daniel's voice broke into his thoughts, and he turned to face the young archaeologist.

"How are you feeling?" Jack asked, avoiding Daniel's comment.

"Better."

"Well, Fraiser said you could probably be out of here tonight."

"Thank god!"

Jack grinned, "Singing my song now, are we?"

"The food isn't very appetizing, and I'm dieing for some coffee!"

"You'd better not be trying to get the Colonel to bring you coffee!"

Both men looked to Janet as she walked over to them.

"Of course not!" Daniel beamed innocently.

Janet shook her head, "I'm sure. How are you feeling?"

"Fine."

"I'm just going to…" Jack pointed over at Sam's bed, excusing himself.

Janet and Daniel shared a frown as he walked away.

"Well," Janet continued. "It looks like you might get out of here in a few hours. I'll just have to do a few more checks; make sure nothing has changed."

"Yes!" Daniel cried triumphantly. Janet shot him an exasperated frown. "Sorry." He mumbled.

"_I swear, he's been spending way too much time with the Colonel."_ Janet thought to herself

"Hey! I'm not _that_ bad!" Objected Daniel.

Janet frowned. "Did I say something?"

Daniel's eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"Just get some rest, ok?"

"You're the doctor, Doctor."

Janet once again shook her head, and left him alone to rest. _"Way too much time around Jack."_

Daniel heard the comment, but he wasn't sure if it had actually come from Janet. It was as if he'd heard her voice inside his head. What was going on?

Lying back down, Daniel closed his eyes to rest. When he woke, hopefully the headache would be gone, and he wouldn't be hearing voices inside his head, he been down that road before, and certainly didn't want to go there again.

* * *

A/N: So, What do you think? Please leave reviews, they're greatly appreciated! As I said before, I'm really excited with this story, I have so many ideas. Thanks for reading! 


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Thanks for all of the reviews! I would reply to everyone but, I got so many reviews, not that I'm complaining ;-) Just to aswer a question: Marguerite: The story is listed as Sam and Daniel for the two main characters because the story is centred as Sam/Daniel friendship, and yes, there is some Sam/Jack ship in it, sorry about that.  
A few of you had interesting ideas, but I guess you'll have to wait and see where I'm going with this. Thank you once again! I was completely blown away by all of the reviews :-D

* * *

"Mens Mentis" 

-Chapter 2-

Daniel had been released from the infirmary, although he'd been awfully quiet, which didn't go unnoticed by Janet. She'd been reluctant to release him from her care, but there hadn't been anything physically wrong with him.

Janet walked out of her office. She wasn't surprised to find Jack still stationed in the chair next to Sam's bed. The Colonel was fast asleep, his head lolled at an awkward angle. He'd definitely regret that when he woke up.

She was surprised, though, to find Daniel back in the Infirmary. He was sprawled across the bed next to Sam. The only thing missing from the all-too-familiar scene was Teal'c.

Sam was still asleep, and Janet was beginning to get worried. Sam should have woken by now. Something was definitely different about her condition compared to Daniel's. But, as many times as she ran tests, Janet still couldn't find anything wrong with her. Except for the obvious, that she wasn't awake.

Suddenly, Daniel started tossing in his sleep, mumbling inaudible words. As quickly as it had started, his body froze again, before he jumped awake, sitting up bolt right on the bed.

"Daniel?" Janet asked, her tone full of concern. She took a few steps closer to him. His eyes darted to the petite doctor. "Are you ok?"

Jack was instantly awake at the sound of voices. He groaned and brought a hand to his neck.

"I'm fine," Daniel reassured her. "Just a dream."

"What's going on?" Jack asked, rubbing his stiff neck.

"Nothing, I just had a dream, that's all."

Janet didn't completely believe him, something seemed wrong, but she couldn't put her finger on it.

"Honestly, Janet, I'm fine." Daniel insisted.

Dr. Fraiser raised her arms in defense. "I didn't say anything." She walked over to Sam's bed to continue with what her original plan had been: check on Sam.

"She's still not awake."

'_No, really?' _Janet thought in exasperation, but she kept her mouth firmly shut, and looked helplessly at Jack.

Daniel suddenly snorted, and they both turned to look at him. "Uh, sorry."

"I don't know what to do, Colonel." Janet looked to Jack. "To be honest, she should've woken up by now." They all looked at Sam.

"I'm going to talk to Hammond about sending another team back to the planet, see if we can find something there." Jack said sullenly.

"If I can take another look at that lab, I might be able to find something that could shed some light on what is going on." Daniel added.

"And how to reverse this." Jack gestured emphatically towards Sam with his hands.

"I'm pretty sure it had something to do with that device. I feel responsible for what happened, I shouldn't have touched it."

"Don't fret Daniel; I know how you are with your rocks."

"Thanks Jack." Daniel replied sarcastically.

"I have brought nourishment." Teal'c's deep voice interrupted them. They all turned to find Teal'c laden with a tray full of a wide variety of jello flavours. Teal'c always seemed to be the one taking care of the team in such situations. Even if it was jello that they ate.

Jack looked at one of the bowls of blue jello, and frowned.

Daniel, hearing Jack's thoughts of despair of Sam and her love for blue jello, frowned himself. It surprised him a little. He'd always known that the two cared deeply for each other; deeper than they were allowed. But, hearing Jack's thoughts, Daniel realized that it went much deeper than he originally thought, and he felt deeply saddened for his friends.

Although, he still wasn't sure if he was still a little loopy from being knocked out, or was he really hearing everyone's thoughts. He wasn't exactly ready to share this with everyone. Another session with Dr. Mackenzie was not something he particularly wanted.

Teal'c placed the tray of jello down on a table next to the bed. "O'Neill, do you require some jello?"

"No thanks, Teal'c." Jack shook his head.

"Starving will not help Major Carter." Teal'c reasoned.

Jack looked to Sam, and back to Teal'c before grunting and taking a bowl of red jello.

"Well, I'm going to go talk to General Hammond about going back to P5X-420." Daniel knew that Jack wouldn't be leaving Sam's side anytime soon.

Daniel grabbed a cup of jello on his way out of the Infirmary. He was very shocked when a certain Jaffa's voice echoed in his head.

'_Good, Daniel Jackson has left the yellow coloured gelatin for myself.'_

Daniel turned to find Teal'c digging greedily into a cup of yellow jello. A slightly amused grin spread across the archaeologist's face before he left the room.

* * *

Hammond had granted Daniel's request to return to the planet. The only condition was that he send another SG team through first, just to make sure that it hadn't been hostiles that had taken Sam and Daniel down. 

Hammond was pretty sure that Colonel O'Neill wouldn't be returning with Dr. Jackson through the 'gate. So he'd round up Dr. Lee's science team to accompany Jackson. Hopefully Teal'c would volunteer to watch over them.

Sighing as he picked up the phone, General Hammond began to call Dr. Fraiser to check up on Major Carter's status. He had no doubt that she would pull through, otherwise SG-1 wouldn't rest until they found a way to help her.

Especially Jack O'Neill, who seemed to be inseparable from Major Carter's side. Well, more so than usual. Hammond suspected that it had something to do with the super soldier incident on the Alpha site just a few weeks ago. When the base had come under attack by Anubis' Kull warriors, Sam had been chased by one through the forest with severe injuries.

Then there was the recent incident on the Prometheus where they had gone without contact for two days, and Carter had suffered from a concussion.

It seemed that Colonel O'Neill was very protective of her recently.

Thinking twice, Hammond replaced the phone on its cradle. He was going to ask Fraiser to send the Colonel to his office, but he now realized that getting Jack out of the Infirmary wasn't going to be very likely.

George stood from his comfy desk chair, and headed out of his office. He would visit Doctor Fraiser and see Major Carter himself, and have a talk with O'Neill while he was there.

* * *

Jack was, once again, alone with Sam in the Infirmary. Teal'c had gone to Kel-no-reem. He said that although he didn't need to do it anymore, because of the lack of his symbiote, it still helped him to remain calm. 'When was Teal'c not calm?' Jack had thought. 

He looked down at his 2IC, and sighed. It had been over 24 hours now, and she still wasn't awake.

Jack looked around the silent room, checking once again if he was alone. Satisfied with his results, he leaned forward in his seat, and grasped Sam's hand in his own. Her hand was very warm, and he frowned. He let go, and placed his hand on her forehead. His frown deepened when he felt how hot her skin was.

"Fraiser!" He called out. She came running out of her office, her brows creased with concern.

"What is it?" She was by Sam's bedside in an instant.

"She's hot… I mean her temperature. She's burning up."

Janet quickly read Sam's temperature with a thermometer. Jack looked at her questioningly. "105."

"Crap!" Jack mumbled under his breath.

Janet called for a nurse to help her as she attempted to bring down Sam's dangerously high temperature. Jack found himself being helplessly pushed out of the way.

"What's going on, Colonel?" Jack spun around to find himself face to face with General Hammond.

"Carter's running a high fever."

Hammond looked over Jack's shoulder just as Janet approached them. "Doctor?"

"She'll be ok, as long as we can keep her temperature down. A fever means that her body is fighting some sort of virus. I'm going to run some more tests; I didn't spot any sort of virus before."

"Thank you, Doctor." Janet nodded, and returned to Sam. "Colonel," Hammond continued. "Can I speak with you for a minute?" Hammond led Jack away from the nurses.

"Dr. Jackson approached me with a request to return to P5X-420."

"Yes, Sir, I was going to talk to you about that."

"I know, and I granted his request. I'm sending SG-2 through to make sure it's safe. Now, I know you would like to remain here by Major Carter's side, and because you're not much one for the science, so I'm sending Dr. Jackson with a science team."

Jack was slightly surprised. "Thank you, Sir." He did want to do whatever he could to help, but like Hammond said, he would just get in the way with this one. The answer required science, not force, and Jack was helpless but to take a back seat and watch.

"I've tried contacting the Tok'ra." Continued Hammond, "We've heard nothing so far."

"I don't think we will after that episode a few weeks ago. Jack scowled. After the attack on the Alpha site, the Tok'ra had withdrawn from their alliance. "What about Thor?"

"We've tried the Asgard too, but still nothing. I think we're alone on this one." Hammond sighed. "Well, let me know if you need anything, Son."

"That I will, Sir." Jack smiled, and Hammond was relieved to see the Colonel smile. "But, I really appreciate it." Jack spoke sincerely.

The General nodded, and Jack turned back to sit by Sam's side again. A monitor was now hooked up to her, to keep a check on her vitals, and to alert them to any sudden changes.

He reclaimed his seat, and studied her peaceful face. "Come on Carter," He whispered.

* * *

Daniel looked at his surroundings. The place was unfamiliar to him. A creek laid several metres before his feet, and trees covered the embankments on either side. There were no sounds but the rustle of the wind in the trees, and the occasional call of a bird. 

A sudden 'plunk' in the water, drew his attention to his right. Small pebbles were being thrown into the water by a lone figure sitting on a fallen log.

Her face was covered by the shadows, but Daniel knew instantly who the woman was. "Sam?" He took a step closer to her as she turned to look at him.

"Daniel?"

"Yeah." He frowned. Was he dreaming? He looked around in confusion. "Ah… where are we?"

"This is the creek by my house where I grew up. I used to come here when I wanted to be alone, or think." While she spoke, she stared out over the surface of the water. When she finished, she turned to look at him once more.

"Why are you here? You're not supposed to be here."

Daniel's eyes shot open as her words echoed through his mind. He sat up in bed, and looked around his dark quarters. _'What was that about?'_

_

* * *

_A/N: Just to let you all know, I'll probably only have one chapter a week. There's this horribly inconveniant thing called school which I must attend. But I'll type up chapters whenever I can! Thanks once again. 


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Sorry this one took a while, it is a little longer than usual though. thanks for all of the reviews! Oh, and there is a couple of "shippy" paragraphs, so, for those who don't like that can kind of skip over them ;-)

* * *

"Mens Mentis"

-Chapter 3-

Daniel trudged into the Infirmary with two steaming hot cups of coffee in his hands. He was surprised to find not only the chair, but also the bed, in which Sam had lain, empty.

"She was moved to Isolation Room 3."

Daniel turned to find one of the nurses peering timidly at him.

"Isolation? Did something happen?" Panic ripped through his insides, and a million possibilities swept upon his mind.

"You'll have to talk to Dr. Fraiser. I don't know anything else." She smiled apologetically at him, but he was already striding back through the doorway.

As an afterthought, he quickly yelled a "Thank you" over his shoulder. Some coffee spilt onto his hand, and he cursed just as the doorway to the Isolation Room loomed into view. As he hurried through the doorway, he almost bowled over the short doctor. Luckily, only a few drops of coffee fell to the floor.

Janet quickly regained her composure, and looked up into Daniel's worried face. "Daniel, what's-"

"Is she ok? What happened!" He quickly cut her off, and glanced over Janet's shoulder at the single bed in the room which held Sam's form.

"Calm down, Daniel." Jack's tired voice spoke up. He rose from his vigil in the chair by the bed.

"She's still the same; I just thought it would be better to move her somewhere more isolated until we know what's wrong with her." _'If we find out what's wrong with her.'_

Daniel frowned, but didn't say anything. He still wasn't sure exactly what was going on. Was he really hearing people's thoughts? A sudden, sharp pain ripped through his head, and he closed his eyes until the pain subsided a second later.

"Daniel? Are you ok?" He opened his eyes to see Janet looking at him, her face full of solicitude. Jack also bore a worried frown

"Headache," Daniel simply explained.

"Still?" Janet's frown deepened at Daniel's nod. "Let me go and get something for that."

As soon as Janet left the room, Daniel walked over and stood in front of Jack. "Something strange is going on, but I don't know if I should say anything."

"Spit it out, Daniel."

At that moment, Teal'c joined them from the Observation Room.

Daniel continued. "Right, well, you're going to think I'm insane, but I think I'm hearing people's thoughts." Daniel readied himself for their reactions. They both remained silent.

"Are you sure Fraiser gave you a full bill of health?" Jack asked skeptically, breaking the moment of silence.

With a sigh, Daniel spoke. "Go ahead, think of something!" He knew it would be the only way to prove it, to Jack, and to himself.

'_How about you're insane!'_

"Insane? After everything we've been through, you don't think it's possible?"

Jack blinked at Daniel in shock.

"Was Daniel Jackson correct in assessing your thoughts, O'Neill?" Teal'c questioned.

"Lucky guess." Jack mumbled. _'Daniel's a geek.'_

"How mature, Jack."

"Well, you are." Jack said with a shrug.

'_Can you hear my thoughts, Daniel Jackson?' _Teal'cs deep voice questioned in his mind.

"Yes, Teal'c."

"Huh?" Jack asked, looking between the two.

"What?" Daniel looked back.

"This is… confusing. Maybe we should get Fraiser to take another look at you." suggested Jack.

Daniel shook his head furiously. "No, SG-5 is going back to P5X-420 in…" he glanced down at his watch, "in 20 minutes to check if it's safe, and then I'm going to go back through and find out what did this, and how to fix it. There's no way Janet will let me go if she hears about this."

"The other scientists can take care of it, and take lots of photos of the ruins for you." You can translate them here when they get back."

"Jack!" Daniel pleaded, "You know I have more experience than them! If Hammond lets Felger go he'll just screw something up, and end up unconscious himself."

"And that's a problem because…"

"Jack!"

"Fine." Jack raised his hands in surrender.

"And don't think of mentioning this to Janet."

"I wouldn't."

"I know what you're thinking! Look, I promise that as soon as I'm back, I'll let Janet check me out again." Daniel offered.

Jack sighed. "If anything happens I'm going to say 'I told you so'."

"I will accompany Daniel Jackson through the Stargate." Teal'c interrupted them, and they both turned to look at the large Jaffa. "Will that sooth your unease, O'Neill?"

"Yeah, ok." _'Good, that way Teal'c will be able to keep Daniel out of trouble.' _Jack thought to himself.

"Hey! I don't always get into trouble!" Daniel protested.

"Please! You're always getting hurt! How many times is it that you've died now?"

"It's not like you haven't died either."

"Not as many times as you."

"Doctor Jackson, should we not make our way to the Control Room?" Teal'c said, stopping their childish argument.

"Right."

"Have fun," Jack smiled, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

Daniel headed towards the doorway with Teal'c on his tail. When he reached the doorway, he paused, and turned around, his face turned back to all seriousness. "I promise I'll do whatever it takes to get her back."

Jack opened his mouth to reply, but knew Daniel could hear his thoughts _'Be careful.'_ "Let me know if there's anything I can do to help."

Daniel nodded. He heard Jack's thoughts of complete helplessness, and Daniel was determined to help Sam. "I will." He cast a quick glance back at the bed where his friend lay. And he knew that he would do anything within his power to make sure that he'd see her smiling again, and with her smiling, Jack as well.

Daniel and Teal'c disappeared into the hallway, their footsteps echoing after them. Seconds later, Janet entered the doorway, with pills grasped in her hand. A frown appeared on her face when she noticed Daniel was not in the room.

"Where's Daniel?"

"He ran off to the 'Gate Room with Teal'c."

Janet sighed and placed the bottle on the counter next to Sam's bed. She looked curiously at Jack as he moved back to the chair. "How are you doing?" She asked, although it was pretty much guaranteed that he'd say he was 'fine', even if it wasn't the truth.

"I'm fine." He mumbled, taking a seat.

She wasn't sure if she should challenge him on his response. An irate Colonel wasn't something she currently felt like dealing with. She wasn't stupid though, it was obvious where his mood was coming from. The feelings Jack shared with Sam were none too subtle, and so was the fact that Sam returned those feelings. What Janet wondered was how long they'd let the Air Force and regulations get in the way. She'd hate to see either one of them lose their lives in the fight against the Goa'uld without having a chance to tell the other how they feel.

Their sturdy walls which kept their feelings back were beginning to crumble though. Janet already noticed the look on Colonel O'Neill's face at that precise moment. It wasn't one of a CO whose 2IC was injured, but that of a man who is breaking inside for someone he cares about, more than he's supposed to.

* * *

"Sir, the area is secure. There's absolutely no sign that anyone has been here at all, except for SG-1's footprints." Colonel Reynold's faced filled the screen of the monitors which were strung across the Control Room.

Daniel grinned, and looked to Hammond who gave a curt nod. "All right, you have a go. You can ship out in half an hour."

"Thank you, Sir!" Daniel ran from the Control Room to gear up to go off world. Teal'c followed at a steady pace behind him.

"Copy that Colonel." Hammond responded to Colonel Reynolds via the MALP. "Dr. Jackson, Teal'c and a group of scientists will join you in approximately half an hour."

"Yes, Sir. SG-2 out." The transmission ended, and the screens filled with grey static. A few moments later, the 'gate shut down.

* * *

The UAV Hammond had sent out to survey the ruins buzzed over head as SG-2, Daniel, Teal'c, and the four scientists reached the building where Daniel and Sam and fallen unconscious.

Daniel, who wanted to find out what was going on as quickly as possible, suggested that the group split up, half go to the ruins, and the other half into the building.

"Ok, Teal'c and Wilson can stay here with Dr. Jackson, Dr. Coombs, and Dr. Felger." Reynolds instructed. "The rest of SG-2 and I will take Dr. Lee and Dr. Ryan."

Daniel looked panic stricken at Reynolds. "Uh, why don't you take Felger and Coombs, and I'll take Ryan and Lee."

"That makes no sense, you see, Dr. Felger is a scientist, why would he be needed to look at the ruins?" Reynolds smiled sweetly at Daniel. _'I'm not getting stuck with that idiot Felger.'_

Daniel frowned at the Colonel's thoughts, as he himself had been thinking something along the same lines. "Fine, I'll take Felger and Ryan, you take Coombs and Lee."

Reynolds looked cautiously at Coombs before nodding. "Ok then, keep in contact, radio every half hour."

"Will do." Daniel replied before the group turned and headed off towards the ruins. He looked pointedly at Felger. "No touching anything! We're here to look for any kind of information, probably written. We want to find something that can tell us about the device."

The two doctors nodded, and the group headed into the building. Daniel headed straight for where he'd found the device.

He found it lying on the floor. It must have fallen from his hand when he'd lost consciousness. Daniel bent down and carefully picked it up. It had closed back up into its original pyramidal form.

Expecting the device to snap open, Daniel was surprised when it remained firmly shut.

"Is this the device you were holding when you fell unconscious, Daniel Jackson?"

Daniel jumped. He hadn't noticed Teal'c walk up and stand directly behind him until he'd spoken. "Yes it is."

"Is it wise to be holding it then?"

"Last time nothing happened until I touched the red dome inside, so I should be safe." Daniel reasoned.

Teal'c inclined his head, and after looking at the device for a moment, he returned to the doorway to stand guard.

'_Dr. Ryan is so hot!'_

Daniel raised his eyebrows, and turned to look at Felger who was practically drooling over the doctor standing a few metres away from him.

Ryan, feeling Felger's eyes on her, looked up. She gave him a small, uninterested smile, and returned to the shelves she'd been looking at. _'I wish he'd stop staring at me like that.'_

Despite himself, Daniel grinned. He had to admit, Dr. Ryan was an attractive young women with her long blonde hair and hazel eyes. She'd been assigned to the SGC archaeological department only several months ago, and this was Daniel's first time working with her. But from what he'd seen of her, she seemed like a nice person.

"Dr. Ryan, could you come help me over here?" Daniel called across the room to her.

Abandoning her search through the shelves, Ryan walked over to Daniel's side. "Yes, Dr. Jackson?"

Daniel cast a quick glance over at Jay Felger to make sure that he wasn't listening. "Actually, I just thought that you may want to get away from Felger. And please, call me Daniel."

She broke into a grin and chuckled lightly. "Well thank you and you can cal me Jessica."

"You're welcome, Jessica." Daniel grinned back.

'_The nurses were definitely right about him.'_

Daniel's eyebrows shot up.

"So, that's the device?" Jessica asked, turning slightly red by the way Daniel was looking at her.

"Yes, when I picked it up last time, the sides split open." He pointed at the lines in the side where it opened. Jessica leaned in to look closer to look. "Inside there's a red dome at the base. I touched it, it began to glow, and began emitting a quiet hum. Next thing I know, I'm waking up in the Infirmary."

"How did you open it?"

"I just picked it up, and it opened."

She peered curiously at the strange device. "Well, you must have done something, otherwise it be open now, if it simply opened by touch."

"Perhaps it isn't opening because it somehow recognizes me."

"Or, it could be out of power. It may only work once."

Daniel nodded. "Well, unfortunately there are no inscriptions on it, I'm sure the tiny carvings are purely decorative, but you never know. So, we're not going to be able to figure anything out unless we find some sort of writing."

Jessica nodded. "I'll start looking."

"I originally found the device on this table, so I guess it's a good place to start." Daniel suggested.

She began searching the table, while Daniel walked over to a wall nearby and began searching a shelf. He found several devices that looked either completely useless or broken. Also, he found few things that he decided to keep for study later, and placed them in his backpack.

Amongst the chaos on the table, Jessica spotted some paper creeping out underneath a pile of wires. She shifted them aside, and discovered a pile of leather bound books. Picking up the top book, she flipped the cover open.

'_Oh my god!'_

Daniel stopped his inspection of a large box, and turned around. Dr, Ryan had her back to him, so he couldn't see what she held in her hands.

"Dr. Ja- I mean Daniel!" Jessica turned around holding the book open with a huge grin in place. "You're never going to believe this! Whoever this person was," She turned the book so that its contents could be seen by Daniel. "They were an Ancient!"

* * *

A/N: I'm interested in what everyone thinks of Dr. Ryan, I'm not sure if I'm going to have much more of her in the story or not. Thanks once again everyone!


	4. Chapter 4

**Spoilers:** "Jolinar's Memories" and "The Devil You Know"

Author's Note: Sorry this one took forever, I really do have a bunch of excuses, including the big storm we had where we had no power and school was even cancelled (lucky me!) But it's here now, so enjoy!

Also, thanks for all of the reviews, especially Janissima and MIH, your feedback was very helpful.

* * *

_Previously: _

"Dr. Ja- I mean Daniel!" Jessica turned around holding the book open with a huge grin in place. "You're never going to believe this! Whoever this person was," She turned the book so that its contents could be seen by Daniel. "They were an Ancient!"

* * *

**"Mens Mentis"**

-Chapter 4-

Daniel quickly closed the distance between them, and took the book from her. Sure enough, the pages were full of Ancient text. Although, it was handwritten, which caused the writing to be a little messier than usual.

"There are 5 other books here, too." Dr. Ryan said, nodding to the pile on the table.

"That doesn't make much sense, the Ancients were so technologically advanced, why isn't there any computers?" Daniel questioned. "These books may just be something this guy found on another planet, along with all of this other junk."

"Or girl." Jessica corrected him.

"Dr. Jackson?" Colonel Reynolds' voice crackled through the radio.

Daniel reached for his radio. "Go ahead."

"Dr. Lee found something you may find interesting."

"Daniel," Lee's excited voice replaced Reynolds'. "We're at the ruins, and this place was built by the Ancients!"

Daniel looked to Jessica who smiled back. "Are you positive?"

"Yes, unless another race of people dragged huge slabs of stones here with Ancient text on them."

"Are there any buildings still intact?"

"No, there's not much left."

Daniel's headache suddenly decided to pay a return visit, and he began massaging his temple with his free hand. "I'm going to come down there and take a look."

Reynolds' voice replied, "Take Teal'c with you, and leave Wilson with Felger and Ryan."

"Ok, we'll be there soon." Daniel let go of his radio.

"Are you ok?" Jessica asked, noticing his pained expression.

"Yeah, just a little headache."

'_He looks very pale.'_

"I'll be fine." Daniel insisted. He turned to look across the room. "Lieutenant Wilson." The lieutenant in question had discovered the paper-weight looking device, along with a second and third, and was juggling them. When he heard his name, Wilson stopped, and looked over at the archaeologist.

Daniel gave an irritated sigh. "Like the colonel said, you're staying here, and uh, please don't do that." He looked pointedly at the objects clasped in Wilson's hands.

The lieutenant nodded and put them down, and began to look around the room for something else to occupy his mind. Daniel was thankful that Wilson and Jack weren't on the same team.

Daniel pulled off his backpack, and placed the six books inside. His bag was practically overflowing with everything he'd found, plus the items that had been there. The books stuck out of the top, so he left the pack open, and replaced it on his back.

He gave Dr. Ryan and Dr. Felger quick instructions to continue looking for any writing, before leaving with Teal'c.

They walked the first five minutes in silence before Daniel heard Teal'c's deep, baritone voice. _'Can you still hear my thoughts, Daniel Jackson?'_

Daniel nodded, "Yes, but the massive headache isn't exactly helping much."

"Perhaps we should return to the SGC if you are not feeling well." Teal'c suggested.

"No, I'm fine, it's just a headache." Daniel felt like it was the fiftieth time he'd spoken that sentence that day. Just as he'd finished speaking, though, the dull pain erupted, and he felt like his head were being attacked by a thousand needles. He gripped Teal'c's forearm as a wave of nausea threatened to overcome him.

"Daniel Jackson?"

Daniel held up an index finger to the Jaffa as he waited for the earth to stop spinning around him.

As quickly as it had come, the pain subsided, and Daniel released his hold on Teal'cs arm.

"I'm fine."

"I don not believe you are. We shall return through the Stargate immediately."

"I'm fine Teal'c! Honestly." Daniel insisted.

"We will return to the 'gate, Daniel Jackson, even if it is necessary that I carry you." He looked sternly at Daniel, who knew that it was not a good idea to argue with Teal'c when he had his mind set on something.

"Fine, but Dr. Lee needs to take pictures, and bring back anything that he can." Daniel pouted.

The pair turned around, and began heading back towards the 'gate.

"Colonel Reynolds," Teal'c spoke into the radio. "Daniel Jackson is feeling unwell; we are heading back towards the Stargate."

"Copy that, Teal'c."

* * *

"It's just a headache! Doesn't anybody listen?" Daniel protested to Doctor Fraiser as she checked his temperature. 

'_Hmm… no fever.'_

"I'm not sick."

Janet sighed. "Fine, I'll give you something for the headache, if you actually wait here for it this time." She turned and walked away.

As Daniel was waiting, Teal'c entered the Infirmary. "What is Doctor Fraiser's prognosis?"

"It's nothing, _just a headache._"

Teal'c bowed his head. "Colonel O'Neill requests your attention in the Isolation Room."

"Thanks Teal'c." Daniel stood from the bed, grabbed his pack, and began to follow Teal'c out of the Infirmary.

"Daniel!"

Daniel turned around, smiling apologetically. "Sorry, Janet." The doctor shook her head, and handed Daniel two pills, and a paper cup filed with water. He took proffered objects, and swallowed the pills.

"I'm free to go, right?"

"Yes, Daniel." Janet replied reluctantly, taking the empty cup from his hand.

"Thank you." Daniel and Teal'c left, and headed down the hallway to the Isolation Room where Sam was. Teal'c led Daniel past the door to the room, and into the observation room where they found Jack sitting in a chair, staring through the glass into the adjacent room.

Daniel could hear Jack's distressed thoughts of being kicked out of the Isolation room by Janet. He was insisting to himself that he hadn't been harassing the nurse _that_ much.

"How'd it go?" Jack asked as they walked in.

"Well, we found some books, and one looks like a private journal of sorts. I'm hoping they will have something about the device in them. I also brought back the device, and I'm thinking I could get Dr. Lee to take a look at it when he gets back." Daniel explained.

"So you do think it was a device that did this?"

"Well, yeah, there was no sign of anyone else had been there. I'm about to start looking at the books. Whoever wrote them, they were an Ancient." Daniel could barely hold in his excitement. There was still so much to learn about the ancient race of humans, and Daniel jumped at the opportunity to delve into Ancient text.

"That's great, Daniel." Jack replied non-committed.

Daniel realized he'd gotten a little over excited about what they'd found, and had completely forgotten, for the moment, that his friend was lying unconscious in the Isolation Room below them. "How's Sam?"

All three of the men turned to look down at Sam as Jack replied, "They've managed to keep her temperature down, but there's still nothing."

"I should get a start on these books then." Daniel said. "I'll let you know as soon as I find anything."

"May I be of assistance?" Teal'c offered.

"Thanks Teal'c, but there's not really anything you can do."

Teal'c bowed his head. "Then I shall remain here with O'Neill."

Daniel nodded and turned to leave.

'_So, if you can hear me, which I'm still having doubts that you can, didn't you promise that you'd share this new ability with Fraiser once you got back from the planet?'_

Daniel paused mid-stride, and turned around to look at Jack. "Jack, if I tell Janet that I'm hearing people's thoughts, she's going to lock me up in another room, and run all sorts of tests and scans."

"Well maybe she should."

"If I'm locked in a room, who's going to translate the books and help Sam?"

"Fine," Jack surrendered. "But if these headaches of yours get any worse, we're telling the doc."

"Ok, fine, I'm going to go take a look at these books now." Daniel left the room, and headed towards the elevators.

'_The hills are alive, with the sound of music. With songs they have sung, for a thousand years…'_

Daniel stopped, and looked at the airman passing by him. _'ookay.'_ He thought, raising an eyebrow.

"Daniel, wait"

He turned around to find Jack hurrying down the hallway with Teal'c only metres behind him.

"Come with me," Jack ordered, and walked into the Isolation Room.

Confused, Daniel obediently followed them into the room, and over to Sam's bed.

The nurse gave an exasperated sigh at the sight of Jack who paid no attention.

"Jack, what's going on?"

Jack leaned in towards Daniel and Teal'c, and spoke quietly so that the nurse couldn't hear. "If you can hear thoughts, then can't you hear anything from Carter?"

Daniel looked at Sam curiously. "I never thought of that."

"Well try it." Jack pushed.

Daniel nodded, and stepped closer to the bed.

"Anything?" Jack asked barely five seconds later. "Try harder." He responded after Daniel shook his head.

Daniel closed his eyes and tried to concentrate.

'_I wonder if he hears anything. I hope this works… He doesn't look like he's hearing anything.'_

"Maybe if you'd shut up, I might actually hear something!" Daniel snapped, causing Jack to flinch and the nurse across the room to jump, and cast them a glare. Teal'c merely raised an eyebrow.

"Sorry," Daniel mumbled. "Just stop thinking, ok?"

Once again, Daniel closed his eyes. After 30 seconds of nothing, he opened his eyes and shook his head. "Nothing."

"Well, that doesn't mean anything, right? People don't really think when they're sleeping." Jack said hopefully.

Daniel didn't respond. Instead, he looked down at Sam. He remembered the dream he'd had the night before.

"Well, you can go back to your office now. Sorry, I thought it was a good idea." Jack said glumly, interrupting his thoughts.

"It was worth trying."

* * *

A loud explosion had Daniel's eyes open, and alert instantly. He looked around in bewilderment, only to find an old TV switched on in the room, playing a very old action movie. 

Drawing his eyes from the television, Daniel looked around the unfamiliar room. He'd half expected to find himself lying on his own couch in front of the TV, even though he didn't remember driving home in the first place.

Instead, Daniel was obviously in somebody else's lounge room; one with extremely old style furniture.

Hearing a door open, Daniel quickly stood up.

"Sam?" A deep, male voice called through the house.

A girl's voice, from behind Daniel in another room called, "In here."

Suddenly, a man walked into the room where Daniel was standing, and he was surprised to see that it was Jacob Carter.

The old General didn't notice him though, and he walked right by Daniel, and through another door.

Daniel, frowning, quickly followed Jacob through the door which led to a kitchen. A young girl with long blonde hair and blue eyes was placing some cookies on a plate. She looked up and smiled at Jacob, but the smile was quickly replaced by a frown of concern.

"Why are you crying?"

Daniel stepped into the room, and stood next to Jacob, and he could now see some differences in the man's face. He looked many years younger, and his hair a little browner. Tears were threatening to spill from his eyes.

"There was an accident." Jacob barely choked out.

Following Jacob's gaze, Daniel looked at the girl as she took in a shaky breath.

"Where's mum?"

"I finished work later than I thought. I was late to pick her up, so she took a cab…"

The girl shook her head. "No…" Tears slipped down her cheeks.

"There was an accident."

"Oh my god," Suddenly, Daniel realized what was going on. "Sam?"

The young girl, Sam, tore her bright blue eyes away from her father, and looked at Daniel. Her eyes widened in recognition, and as if it were only the first time she'd noticed him in the room.

"Daniel?"

* * *

A/N: ok, a lot will start to get explained next chapter, but I guess that you pretty much know what's going on. I'll try to get the next chapter out as soon as possible. Oh, and the Sound of Music part, sorry about that. I watched the movie, and had the songs stuck in my head forever! After I wrote this, though, it was gone. lol 

Thanks for reading, and please review!


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Oops... 3 weeks... sorry about that, you can yell at me all you want! I've actually been really stressed out with school, but hopefully that's all over now. The important thing is that the next chapter is finally here! This one will begin to explain things, so it's basically all talking. I promise that it will get more exciting, hopefully...

Oh, and congrats to everyone who won in the 2005 Stargate Fan Awards, I know Janissima did, so congrats to her! Also, sorry for getting the Sound of Music stuck in your head:-P

_

* * *

_

"_Oh my god," Suddenly, Daniel realized what was going on. "Sam?"_

_The young girl, Sam, tore her bright blue eyes away from her father, and looked at Daniel. Her eyes widened in recognition, and as if it were only the first time she'd noticed him in the room._

"_Daniel?"_

* * *

"Mens Mentis"

-Chapter 5-

Daniel took a step closer to the younger Sam, but everything began to fade around him.

"Daniel?"

Daniel jerked his head up. The familiar artifacts that cluttered his office surrounded him, and only the desk lamp was turned on, covering the books on his desk with light.

That was the third dream that he'd had of Sam since their return from P5X-420.

It wasn't unheard of that Daniel would dream of his team mates, certainly when they involved nightmares. They were the three people who were the closest to him; the people he would die for, and had several times already.

But these dreams with Sam were different somehow. Perhaps they had something to do with his new ability.

"Daniel?" Dr. Ryan repeated for the second time. Her voice was now edged with concern. Finally, Daniel turned his head to look at the doorway.

"Dr. Ryan, sorry, I didn't know you were there."

"Jessica," She corrected him. "Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you." She glanced at the clock on his desk which read 2:40 am. "Wow, sorry, I didn't realize it was so late. Coming from a planet where it's sunny to inside a mountain with no windows, you have no idea what time it is."

"Don't worry about it; I must have fallen asleep while looking at the books." Daniel looked at the clock again, then back to Jessica. "You just got back?"

She nodded, "Felger, Wilson, and I decided to check out the ruins as well."

"Find anything?"

"We didn't find anything that could help us. But, I was thinking that you should suggest to General Hammond about setting up a long term science team there. There's a lot of stuff back there that could be useful."

"That's a good idea; I'll mention it to Hammond."

Jessica nodded, and they fell into silence. _'Say something!'_ "Well, I just stopped by to see if you needed any help with the translation. I may not be an expert on the Ancient language like you, but I know it pretty well."

"Yeah, that would be great," Daniel stood up and leaned across his desk to grab one of the books. "There's a lot of stuff here." He handed it to her as she walked into the room.

Taking the book, Jessica took a seat in a chair on the opposite side of his desk.

"I quickly flipped through the books earlier. The larger books are filled with diagrams of many things. They're kind of like scientific journals." Daniel began to explain as he returned to his seat. "Hopefully our mystery device is in there. The smaller book is a personal journal. So, there's a lot to get through. Last chance to escape and get some sleep."

"I've pulled off many all nighters in my life; I think I can survive another." Jessica smiled.

Daniel nodded, and flipped the journal open. As soon as he reached the first word, he was interrupted by Dr. Ryan's thoughts. He was surprised to find that she knew the language even better than he'd expected.

He turned his attention back to the book in front of him. Taking a deep breath, he focused on the text, pushing Jessica's thoughts to the back of his mind.

* * *

Jack peered at the not-so-appetizing arrangement of food that lay before him. After much deliberation, he grabbed a piece of pie, and joined Teal'c at a table. A pie wasn't exactly the healthiest of meals, but Carter wasn't there to pester him about it. 

Teal'c was busy digging into his own food laden tray. He paused during a large bite into an apple, and looked up at Jack who was staring down at his pie.

Jack, sensing Teal'c's gaze, looked up at him. "Fine, I'll eat some! You don't have to push." Teal'c merely raised an eyebrow as Jack took a bite.

He didn't even realize how hungry he was until he'd taken that first bite. Jack hungrily chewed down the small piece of pie, and jumped up from the table, only to return with a try of food that almost matched Teal'c's for size.

When they'd cleared off their trays, or half cleared off in Jack's case, Teal'c suggested that they check on Daniel's progress. After grabbing a cup of coffee, which they were sure he'd gladly welcome, they headed to his office.

"Hey!" Jack greeted as he round the doorway into Daniel's office. Daniel and Jessica looked up from the books. I brought coffee, but I didn't realize that there would be two of you." Jack looked down at the single cup of coffee in his hand.

"Hey Jack, no, that's ok. Umm… this is Dr. Ryan, she's helping me translate. Jessica, this is Jack and Teal'c."

Jessica smiled. "It's nice to meet you."

Jack nodded, and placed the cup of coffee on the desk. "You too."

"I'm surprised to find you out of the isolation room." Daniel admitted.

"Janet ordered me to leave and get some rest."

"Of course," Daniel replied sarcastically, noting Jack's version of resting.

"I couldn't sleep, so I found Teal'c and we decided to grab something to eat, and then see how you were doing." Jack replied indignantly.

Daniel grinned, "We've found a lot actually. This guy's name was Janis. He was a scientist working on various different things. In his journal he talks about his theories on technology that can make you 'hear people's thoughts'.

"It looks like this guy succeeded then." Jack said.

"Yeah, no kidding."

Jessica looked back and forth between Daniel and Jack. "I'm sorry, he did?"

Jack looked at Jessica, and back at Daniel. "You didn't tell her about the…" Jack pointed at his head.

"No, not yet." He looked at Dr. Ryan who looked back in confusion. "Uh, it appears that the device gave me the… ability to hear people's thoughts."

"You've been hearing people's thoughts all this time?" Jessica asked in disbelief.

Daniel simply nodded.

"Go ahead, think of something." Jack said.

"Ok…" Dr Ryan remembered her thoughts back on the planet about what some of the nurses had told her about Daniel. _'Does that mean you hear my thoughts earlier about the nurses?'_

"Yeah, what was that about?" Daniel asked, and Jessica turned a deep shade of read.

'_Don't tell him that Heather said he was cute!' _"Oops…"

"Which one is Heather?"

"So, you've been hearing my thoughts the whole time?" She asked, avoiding his question.

"Don't worry, besides the nurse thing, you didn't think anything that is embarrassing."

"As much as this nurse thing sounds interesting," Jack interrupted. "Let's get back on topic. This guy's journal that mentions the whole thoughts thing, does it have any sort of date on it?"

"Of course, but why-" Daniel stood quickly, "Wow, you're right." He hurried around the desk to Jessica.

"Don't act too surprised, Daniel." Jack said.

Ignoring Jack, Daniel looked at Jessica. "Do these books have dates on them too?"

"Yes, they do it by days and moons."

"The journal entry I'm up to is listed as the 12th day of the 57th moon. Try looking around that date."

Jessica looked down at the page she was on, which was listed as the 2nd day of the 38th moon. Quickly, she flipped through the rest of the book, and began on the next book in the pile. About halfway through the 2nd book she paused. "Ok, there's no 12th day entry, but this one here is the 15th." Slowly, she turned the pages.

"There it is," Daniel breathed as they turned to a page where the device was drawn with precision in the middle of the page.

Jessica began reading the page. "He calls it 'Mens Mentis' which, translated into English, means-"

"Thoughts." Daniel interrupted, and continued translating. "It was made to give people the… 'Gift of Thoughts'. They could use it to hear the enemy's thoughts, and it was made so that if the enemy got hold of the device, it wouldn't work for them, and would kill them if they even tried to use it."

"Enemies?" Jack asked.

"The Goa'uld," Daniel realized, his face turning pale. "That's why it didn't work for Sam."

"You mean that thing's going to kill her!"

"Wait a minute," Jessica interrupted. "Major Carter's a Goa'uld?"

No, five years ago she became host to a Tok'ra, When it died, it left naquadah in her blood," Daniel explained.

"Daniel! Is Carter going to die from this thing?" Jack repeated in frustration.

"I don't know Jack; I'll need to translate the rest of the text."

"Doctor Fraiser assured that Major Carter's condition is stable." Teal'c reassured Jack.

"Exactly," Daniel continued. "We should probably inform Hammond about everything now. Why don't you two go and talk to him about calling a briefing in another hour, and we'll see what we come up with before then."

'_Does he think I'm a little kid? Giving me a job to take my mind off of things?' _"Sure," Jack looked at Daniel, who sighed, before leaving with Teal'c.

* * *

A/N: thanks for reading! I'll get the next chapter up as soon as I can! 


	6. Chapter 6

**"Mens Mentis"

* * *

**

Spoilers: "Children of the Gods", "Forever in a Day", and "Death Knell"

Author's Note: Just a reminder that this story takes place before they learn about the Ancient Gene and ATA (Ancient Technology Activation).  
Thanks once again for all of the reviews, you guys are great! There's more talking again in this one, but something actually happens in the last half, so hang in there ;-) Enjoy!

* * *

-Chapter Six- 

"Wait a minute, Dr. Jackson," General Hammond interrupted him. "You said that this device gives people the ability to read thoughts?"

"Yes…" Daniel replied cautiously.

"And it has some sort of safe guard so that the Goa'uld can not use it."

"That's correct."

"Well, it seems that this device doesn't work properly, unless of course there's something you forgot to tell me." Hammond looked sternly at the archaeologist.

"You mean, I didn't tell you that I can hear people's thoughts? Must've slipped my mind." Daniel chuckled nervously.

"Daniel Jackson, this is serious! You know the rules!"

"Sir, If I may," Jack leaned forward in his chair, interrupting them with a raised index finger. "Daniel came to-"

"Colonel O'Neill! Do not tell me that you knew about all of this!" Hammond yelled at his 2IC.

"Ok, Sir." Jack shut his mouth and leaned back. Hammond was practically fuming.

"I'm sorry, Sir, I knew that if I told anyone, I'd be stuck in the Infirmary, and I wouldn't be able to help Sam." Daniel explained. "I feel fine, honestly."

"I'd like to be the judge of that," Dr. Fraiser replied.

"Ok, I promise to get checked out as soon as we're done here."

Although he still looked livid, Hammond nodded. "Very well, but this isn't over." He looked directly at Daniel, and then to Jack. "Now, what else have you found?"

"Well, with Dr. Ryan's help, I managed to translate everything that we could find on the object. He created it, and presented it to the council, and they approved it for testing. The device was tested on two males and two females. After the initial reaction wore off, it worked, all four of them were hearing what everyone around them was thinking. It seemed that the device didn't make them hear every thought, just occasional ones. Janis, this man, believed that the mind could be trained to control when they, uh, when they could hear the thoughts.

"There were some side affects which the council grew worried about, and they soon pulled the plug on the research. It was decided that people's thoughts are personal, and after so any problems arose, they believed it would be better to leave the project alone. Janis abandoned the project, and began on a new idea about activating technology with the mind."

"Side affects?" Jack questioned when Daniel had finished.

"It didn't say exactly what they were. I'm guessing the headaches probably. It didn't seem like something the council was too worried about."

"Still, I'd like to run some tests." Said Dr. Fraiser.

Hammond nodded. "What about the four people who were testing the device? Did it mention anything about fixing them?"

"They were just left alone, after a moon the effects wore off. Although, they were shunned because they knew everybody's secrets and nobody would talk to them anymore."

"What of the affects on the Goa'uld?" Teal'c asked. "Was the device not tested on one?"

Daniel replied, "No, they never had the chance."

"So, this thing should wear off on Carter too then?" Jack asked hopefully.

"To be honest," Daniel looked at him. "I have no idea."

"Well, she's still got a high fever, which means her body's fighting a disease." Janet explained. "We're doing more test work now, but my guess is that whatever the device did to her is attacking the naquadah in her blood, and her antigens are working hard to fight it. Only time can tell us how it will turn out."

"Is she in pain?" Hammond asked.

Janet shook her head. "No, I don't think so, Sir. But, I think we should try contacting the Tok'ra, they may be able to help."

Hammond nodded. "We'll also try to get in contact with Thor." He looked around the room. "Does anyone have anything else to add?" After he was met with silence, he rose from his chair. "Doctor Jackson, I'm ordering you to go with Dr. Fraiser to the Infirmary."

"Yes, Sir." Daniel replied subordinately, rising from his chair also.

"Colonel O'Neill, my office, now."

'_I'm _so_ dead!'

* * *

_

"Ok, we'll have to wait a while for the results to come in," Janet said, looking at Daniel perched on the side of the gurney. "Until then, I want you to rest. No 'buts'. I'll give you something to help you rest if you need it. I had Heather set another bed up in with Sam. I thought you wouldn't object to that."

Daniel grinned slightly at the mention of the Nurse, and he held back a laugh. "Thanks Janet." He jumped down from the bed, and headed off to the Isolation room.

Janet shook her head and sighed.

Daniel spotted Jack coming down the hallway from the other direction. "Geez, you weren't in Hammond's office that whole time, were you?" Daniel asked in disbelief as they met up outside of the door to the room.

"You think you have headaches, try having the good ole' general yelling in your ear for god knows how long."

Daniel winced. "Sorry."

"It wasn't really that bad. He only yelled for the first five minutes, and proceeded to lecture me for the next twenty. The rest of the time he was asking me how I felt and if I needed someone to talk to." Jack grimaced and walked into the room. "So, what's the doc's prognosis?"

"I've been ordered to sleep," Daniel paused by Sam's bedside. A yawn suddenly escaped him. "She said it will be a while before the results come in."

Jack noticed the empty bed next to Sam, and also didn't fail to notice Daniel's attempt at stifling another yawn. "So, maybe you should get right on that sleeping order."

"Yeah," Daniel yawned again. "Sounds like a plan."

* * *

The sunlight broke through the leaves of the trees, dancing on the ground as a cool wind blew the leaves around.

Daniel spotted a trail of blood in the dirt below his feet, and began to follow it. He spotted a figure in green fatigues leaning against a tree. As he got closer, he noticed a huge gash in the person's left leg, and, as the head came into view, he realized that it was Sam.

"Sam."

Her eyes flew open, and she looked up at him in confusion. "Daniel?" Placing one arm on the tree, and the other on the ground for support, she began to stand up. She winced as an agonizing pain ripped up her leg.

Daniel quickly stepped forward, and slipped and arm around her waist, helping her to stand.

She wavered a little, once on her feet, and leaned into him for support. When she gained her balance, and the ground had stopped spinning around her, Sam let go of Daniel.

"Are you ok?" Daniel asked in concern.

Sam nodded slowly. "I don't understand, why do you keep appearing?"

"You're really you?" Daniel asked, ignoring her question. Sam merely looked back at him in confusion. "It's really me, you're not dreaming, well, I think you are dreaming, but I'm really me."

Suddenly, everything around them disappeared, and just as suddenly, they found themselves somewhere else. They were standing underneath a Stargate in a large chamber, at the top of some stairs.

Daniel looked at Sam who was standing next to him. She still wore her torn green fatigues, but her leg no longer seemed to bother her. Her attention wasn't focused on him anymore, but on the room that lay before them.

"This is what was missing from the dig in Giza! This is how they controlled it. It took us 15 years, and 3 superconductors to MacGyver a system for the gate on Earth."

Daniel turned around at the sound of Sam's voice, and realized that they were within the main chamber of the Abydos pyramid. The room was filled with they Abydonian boys, and several SGC members, including Jack and Sam. Daniel then spotted himself standing by them. His hair was longer, and he was dressed in his full Abydonian attire. Draped under one of his arms, was Sha're. He realized what he was seeing, as he remembered this day all too well.

"Captain?" Jack's voice interrupted Sam's excitement.

"Look how small it is!"

"Captain!"

Daniel's eyes were glued on Sha're, and he barely noticed as Sam introduced herself to him.

"Dr. Jackson, I presume. I'm Dr. Samantha Carter."

"I thought you wanted to be called 'Captain'." Jack interrupted smartly.

Sam had noticed Daniel stiffen beside her, and she turned to look at him once more. Noticing that he was staring at Sha're, Sam's heart constricted in pain for him.

Again, everything fell from around them, and was replaced by sandy dunes. They were standing amongst a forlorn crowd surrounding a grave. Kasuf was in the midst; speaking of his lost daughter in a language that Sam couldn't understand.

The people around them disappeared, this time; they were back by the river where Daniel had first run into Sam during his dreams.

They were now both wearing Jeans. Sam's cuts and bruises were gone, and she wore a white T-shirt, while Daniel wore a loose fitting blue shirt.

Sam looked at Daniel apologetically. "Sorry, I was just thinking about when we first met, and then about Sha're…"

Daniel shook his head, smiling sadly. "You can't help what you're thinking."

"I'm still confused," Sam said, sitting down on a log. "You're really here, but how? What's going on?"

Daniel sat down next to her. "It's a long story."

* * *

A/N: thanks once again for reading everyone! I hope that the end of this one got a little more exciting. There's still lots more to come, so let me know what you think. 


	7. Chapter 7

"**Mens Mentis"

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**

A/N: SORRY! I know, I do have lots of good excuses, and pathetic ones. But I was really stuck with this chapter, and some parts didn't come out how I wanted.  
A few chapters ago someone posted about the Sound of Music song and that I should have the I feel pretty song which I believe is actually a West Side Story song, so I improvised a little ;-)  
Also, I had a fair bit of doctor mumbo jumbo in the last one, sorry for any innacuracies, I am in no way a doctor, but a junior in high school :-D  
Hopefully this chapter should clear up any confusion, if not, let me know and I'll explain.

Thanks everyone!

* * *

_"I'm still confused," Sam said, sitting down on a log. "You're really here, but how? What's going on?"_

_Daniel sat down next to her. "It's a long story."

* * *

_

Spoilers: Meridian, Prophecy, Death Knell, and the Fifth Race

-Chapter 7-

"I think that the reason I'm able to be here, in your dreams, is because of the device, instead of hearing everyone else's thoughts when I'm awake, I'm hearing yours in my sleep." Daniel explained to Sam.

Sam shook her head. "But why just me? Why aren't you entering other people's dreams?"

"Perhaps it's your proximity, or it could be the device's separate effects on us, and it's somehow drawn us together."

"But you have no idea whether I'm going to get better, if I'm going to be stuck like this, or worse."

Daniel frowned and shook his head. "Hopefully, the effects will wear off after a while, just like it's supposed to with me."

Sam wasn't convinced. "You said that my body's reacting as if it's fighting a virus?" Daniel nodded. "Maybe the Tok'ra can help. A healing device may be able to get rid of the virus."

Daniel's frown deepened. "We've already tried contacting them a few times, Hammond's even thinking about sending SG-13 out looking for them."

"Look Sam, I may not be able to come around as much for the next little while."

Daniel spun around and found himself in the infirmary at the SGC. Standing beside his daughter's bedside was Jacob Carter.

Tears were threatening to escape Sam's eyes from where she lay in the bed. She wore a gown, and her face was bruised and scratched. He realized that this was after the incident with the super soldiers at the Alpha site.

She quickly sat up and wiped at her eyes. Jacob disappeared from the scene.

It wasn't often that Daniel say Samantha Carter so vulnerable and in tears. He closed the distance between himself and the bed, and took a seat next to her, taking her hand in his.

"You know, I'm always here if you need someone to talk to."

Sam smiled gratefully, "I know, and thanks." She climbed out of bed, and they both stood.

"What about the Asguard?"

"Tried them too. No reply yet though. They're probably busy with the replicators again."

Without warning, Daniel flickered right in front of her. "What was that?"

Everything was beginning to fade around him. "I think I'm waking up."

"Wait, not yet." An all too familiar memory jumped into her mind.

"Jacob stop"

Daniel and Sam turned around to face the bed. This time it was occupied by a bandaged up Daniel. The bed was surrounded by the remaining members of SG-1, General Hammond, Dr. Fraiser, and Jacob who was holding the healing device over Daniel's body.

"Are you serious?" Jacob looked at Jack in disbelief.

"It's what he wants."

"Sorry," Sam looked to Daniel apologetically, and he suddenly flickered again.

"I'll be back, I promise."

Daniel's eyes flew open, and Jack looked up from the other side of the room.

"What was that?" Jack asked.

"What?" Daniel sat up, shaking off the effects of sleep, and attempting to comprehend everything that had just happened.

"You said something."

"I did?"

"Yeah… sleep well?"

Daniel climbed out of bed, and walked over to Sam's bedside, looking down at her. "I was in Sam's dreams."

Jack simply looked blankly back at Daniel. "You what?"

"Somehow, when I sleep, I'm with Sam in her dreams. This isn't the first time it's happened. At first I thought I was just dreaming…"

"Well, is she ok?"

"She seems to be stuck in her own mind, reliving moments in her life, just going wherever her mind takes her." Daniel explained.

"But she's ok."

Daniel nodded. "As well as she can be during the circumstances. Have you heard anything from the Tok'ra?"

"Nope, nothing from Thor either. Hammond just sent SG-13 out to the old Tok'ra homeworld. Maybe they'll have someone still watching the old place or something."

"Colonel O'Neill, Daniel Jackson, Dr. Fraiser requests you presence in the Infirmary." They both turned to see Teal'c standing in the doorway.

"What's going on?" Jack asked, walking with Daniel and Teal'c out of the room.

"Dr. Fraiser has Daniel Jackson's test results."

General Hammond was already standing with Janet when they arrived.

"Dr. Jackson's blood work showed up fine, as did most of the other tests." Janet began instantly.

"_Most_?" Daniel raised his eyebrows.

"Your EEG scan however, wasn't." Janet turned on the X-ray viewing unit, and placed a brain scan on it. "When I saw this, it reminded me of Colonel O'Neill's results after he had the Ancient database downloaded into his brain." She placed another scan next to Daniel's. The red shows what parts of the brain are active.

Compared to Daniel's, Jack's brain scan was obviously more active.

"But what does that mean?" General Hammond voiced the question that was plaguing all four of the men's minds.

"Only a tiny percentage of the human brain is ever used, and in these scans, parts of the brain which usually lie dormant are being activated. Those are parts that have been theorized to have precognitive abilities, similar to what Jonas had a year ago. The brains just not meant to function at such a capacity."

"So Daniel's going to start going Ancient on us?"

Janet looked at Jack and shook her head. "I don't think so. Only a small part of his brain has been activated compared to you, when your whole brain was being overwhelmed with knowledge."

"But it's supposed to go way; the journal said that it's not permanent." Said Daniel.

"I'm not so sure; you have a different physiology than the ancients. We'll have to keep a watch on you for a while, and see if your brain activity remains constant or begins to decrease."

Daniel sighed. "Ok, but do I have to stay in the Infirmary?"

"I'd prefer it if you did. How are the headaches going?"

"It's not so bad, I'm getting used to it."

Janet nodded, "I'll put you on a regular dose."

"Is that all Doctor?" Hammond asked. Janet nodded. "Oh, Dr. Mackenzie got wind of the situation, and he's expressed and interest in speaking with you, Dr. Jackson."

"Oh? Well Sir, I think my headache is too bad right now. He looked hopefully at the General.

The corner of Hammond's lips quirked slightly. "Ok, I'll inform him that you're not feeling up to it."

"Thank you Sir." Daniel smiled thankfully, and Hammond turned to leave.

"There was one more thing." Daniel stopped him, and everyone looked at him. "I um… I can talk to Sam when I'm sleeping." He proceeded to explain everything that he'd told Jack.

"Is she in any pain?" Janet asked.

"No, in fact, she had no idea what was even going on until I told her."

"Be sure to let her know that we'll figure this out." Hammond said.

Daniel nodded. "I will." Hammond left the room.

"If you'll wait a minute, I'll give you some more medication, and then you can return to the Isolation Room."

"So," Jack began as Janet walked away. "This whole hearing people's thoughts thing, could really come in handy."

"On the contrary O'Neill, people's thoughts are private." Teal'c objected.

"I wasn't thinking like that, although, we would have some nice black mail material on our hands. I was thinking more of the tactical advantages."

"Well, none of that matters." Daniel replied "Because I won't have it much longer, and there's no way Hammond will even let me offworld until it's gone."

"So, you're just going to lie in there for the next however many days, and wait for this thing to wear off?"

Teal'c replied, "Doctor Fraiser did order Daniel Jackson to remain in her care."

"Jack looked at Teal'c. "Of course I'm not planning an Infirmary break here, or in this case Isolation break, but she doesn't really expect him to stay cooped up in there. Maybe we spring Daniel out and get…" Jack looked at his watch, "…lunch in the Commissary."

"Why are you so eager to go all of a sudden? Yesterday we had to practically drag you from the Isolation room."

"What? Can't a man be hungry?" Jack said defensively.

He was shutting down again. Daniel heard his thoughts. He thought that he was showing too much emotion, and he had to hide behind the walls again. It was like he was trying to prove something to himself; forcing himself to believe that he was feeling something other than the truth.

"Stop looking at me like that." Jack ordered.

"Well stop thinking."

"Then stop listening."

"I can't exactly help it."

"I'm sure you can, you manage to ignore me just fine when I'm talking to you." Jack retorted.

"Is that the pot calling the kettle black?"

Somebody behind them cleared their throat, and they turned around to look at Janet.

"Doc!" Jack quickly stepped toward her. "What do you say T' and I take Daniel out of here fore a while and get some food into his system?"

"I suppose so, but he has to come right back as soon as you're done."

"We'll have him back before dark," Jack smiled.

"'_He's' _standing right here." Daniel sighed.

"Yes, well… let's go." Jack headed for the door with Daniel and Teal'c preceding him.

* * *

"Come on, you don't hear anything interesting?" Jack looked around the packed commissary.

'_I am sixteen going on seventeen; I know that I'm naïve. Fellows I meet, they tell me I'm sweet and willingly I believe!'_

Daniel looked over at the airman sitting at a table behind Jack's shoulder. "Interesting, no. Disturbing however…"

"Disturbing could be interesting." Jack prodded.

"Believe me, it's not."

'_Ok, I fed the cat, made sure she had water, turned all the lights off. Did I lock the doors?... why is he looking at me like that?'_

Daniel quickly looked away from the lieutenant, and back at Jack who he realized was walking to him. "Sorry, what?"

Jack sighed. "Never mind, are you even going to eat anything?" He looked down at the full plate in front of Daniel who shrugged.

'_I'm so sick of Siler thinking he's so great, walking around the halls with his giant wrench. I swear, one day I hope that he goes offworld so I can forget to open the-'_

'_Great, there's Walter again. He thinks he's so great just because he opens and closes the iris. Big deal, anybody could do that menial job…'_

"Daniel Jackson?"

Daniel looked at Teal'c and realized that he'd missed something again. "What?"

"Are you feeling alright? You seem distracted." Teal'c looked at him in concern.

"I'm fine." Daniel rubbed absent-mindly at his temples.

"Well, Dr. Lee's been begging to take a look at that Mans Praying-mantis thing." Jack said.

"It's 'Mens Mentis'," Daniel corrected him. "And I don't think anybody should touch it."

"Hammond said the same thing. It's still sitting amongst the junk on your desk. Meanwhile, Dr. Ryan's been translating the rest of the books."

"Has she found anything?"

"No idea," Jack shrugged. "I'm sure she'll let you know if she does. Should I tell her to come visit you if I see her?" Jack smiled.

"No, that's fine."

"You two seem to get along well."

"She's a very nice young woman, and has a great knowledge of the… why are you smiling like that?"

"No reason." Jack bit back a laugh.

"Well, I'm glad she was hired. She's a great addition to the SGC."

Jack's grin grew. "She's fairly attractive too, don't you think?"

Daniel coughed. "Is she? I didn't' notice."

"Right, of course you didn't."

Daniel was about to reply when the Star Wars theme suddenly entered his mind in a deep hum. His eyes turned to Teal'c.

"Teal'c?"

"Yes, Daniel Jackson?"

"Watched Star Wars recently?" the humming instantly stopped, and if it were possible, the Jaffa's face turned a slight shade of pink.

"Huh?" Jack looked at them in confusion.

"Never m-" A sudden pain exploded in his brain, and he brought both hands to his head.

"Daniel!" Jack jumped as the archaeologist let out a yell of pain and stood up, his hands held tightly to his head.

Daniel squeezed his eyes shut, attempting to shut out the pain. He couldn't breathe, the pain was so intense. His whole body seemed to disappear, and all he could think about was the excruciating pain.

"Daniel?"

He felt a hand on his arm, and suddenly the pain had disappeared and he was breathing steadily again. He opened his eyes to find Sam's bright blue eyes staring down at him in concern.

"Are you ok?"

* * *

A/N: I'm really open for any ideas... I've messed up a few things, hoepfully it's not noticeable, but I'd appreciate anything that anybody has to say, so please leave me some feedback! Thanks a lot! 


	8. Chapter 8

**"Mens Mentis"**

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A/N: I wanted to get this up before christmas, but i'm sure a lot of you won't get to this until after christmas, so, I would just like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays!

Also, something that isn't said enough, thank you to my wonderful beta Jedi, who without, this story would be full of horrid mistakes.

Finally, thank you to all of you for reading and for your wonderful reviews!

* * *

_"Daniel!" Jack jumped as the archaeologist let out a yell of pain and stood up, his hands held tightly to his head._

_Daniel squeezed his eyes shut, attempting to shut out the pain. He couldn't breathe, the pain was so intense. His whole body seemed to disappear, and all he could think about was the excruciating pain._

_"Daniel?"_

_He felt a hand on his arm, and suddenly the pain had disappeared and he was breathing steadily again. He opened his eyes to find Sam's bright blue eyes staring down at him in concern._

_"Are you ok?"

* * *

_

-Chapter 8-

Spoilers: "Divide and Conquer", "Grace" 

Daniel blinked, staring up at Sam for a moment, and then sat up, looking around. He was sitting in one of the Infirmary beds; Sam was the only other person in the room.

"Is this…" Daniel broke off, looking at Sam.

"…Real? No… what happened? You were shaking for a moment there."

"I think I just had a seizure."

Sam sat down in the chair beside the bed, obviously in deep thought. "I've been thinking about everything that you told me. I don't think that we're just going to magically get better over time. Honestly, that doesn't even make sense. Why would it just go away?"

"But what about the people who tested the device? They said that after a while, the effects began to fade away."

"Think about it though, the other people didn't want to be around them because they didn't want them listening in on their private thoughts."

"They lied." Daniel realized.

"Probably, so that they would be accepted again."

"But the people still shunned them because of what they already knew. So, we're stuck like this."

"Not necessarily," Sam said. "I'd have to know how the device works. It affected both of us, so a small energy field must be released for it to work. If so, then we could attempt to create another wave to reverse it… Dr Lee should be able to figure it out."

"I'll talk to Dr. Lee about it… Hammond wanted me to let you know that we'll figure it out, Sam, and we will, I promise."

Sam smiled. "I know. I wouldn't doubt it for a second. So, how are Teal'c and the Colonel?"

"Well, you know how Teal'c is. He'd take your place in a heart beat if it were possible. And Jack's barely left you side. He'd probably kill if it could help you."

The corner of Sam's lipped curved up in a small, sad smile, and suddenly they were no longer in the Infirmary, but one of the Isolation Rooms. Teal'c and Janet stood in the observation room. In the room itself besides Daniel and Sam, were Freya alongside a longer-haired Sam, and Jack who was strapped to a chair in front of them.

Daniel stepped closer to Freya, and waved his hands in front of her face. She simply looked straight past him at Jack.

"The Zatarc incident." He turned back and looked at Sam. "I never found out what exactly happened."

"I always thought that Teal'c had told you. You never asked."

"You couldn't save her." Anise asked of Jack sitting in the chair.

"No."

"But you still could have saved yourself."

"I guess."

Freya nodded. "What happened next?"

"I tried to break the shield with everything I had."

"What were you feeling?"

Jack continued to stare blankly at the Zatarc device in front of him. "Like… someone who was about to die."

Daniel could see the Zatarc screen swell pink, a sign that he wasn't telling the truth.

"Sir…" Sam looked Jack square in the eyes, willing him to tell the truth.

"I didn't leave…" Jack continued, "Because I'd have rather died myself… than lose Carter."

"Why?" Freya asked.

"Because I care about her… a lot more than I'm supposed to."

The screen returned to normal and Freya nodded. "You are not a Zatarc."

Daniel turned to face Sam again. "Wow…" he breathed. "I'd thought of a lot of different things, but that one didn't cross my mind. Have you guys ever talked about it since?"

The scene in front of them began to fast forward for a moment, and returned to normal speed as Jack walked up to Sam, and freed her from the chair.

"Carter…"

"Sir…" She stood up. "None of this has to leave this room."

"We're ok with that?" Jack asked, his face betraying his disappointment.

"Yes, Sir."

"That's it! You never talked of it again?" Daniel asked in exasperation. "That was over three years ago!"

Sam shook her head. "What's there to talk about? That was a long time ago, things are different now."

"I'm not so sure about that."

"Well, when the hyperdrive failed on the Prometheus' maiden voyage you were nearly stranded on P7X - 009 because they didn't know where the Stargate was."

Daniel and Sam were now standing at the back of the elevator, and standing in front of them was Jack and Daniel.

"Well unfortunately the Tok'ra are unable to send a ship at this time," continued Daniel, "They've promised to retrace the route of the Prometheus as soon as they can but visiting these planets is-"

"What? Is What?" Jack snapped, looking at a wide-eyed Daniel.

"Is something."

"Yeah."

The doors opened, and their was a brief moment where the two stared intently at each other before Jack stalked out, and a moment later Daniel followed, the doors sliding closed after him.

"That wasn't one of my memories," Sam spoke in confusion.

"I guess this thing works both ways."

"That was while I was stuck on Prometheus?"

Daniel nodded, "He was really worried about you, and he's not the only one who worries, is he?" He looked meaningfully at Sam who sighed.

"Daniel, I don't want to talk about it."

"Ok, I'm sorry." Daniel looked around. "So, what do you say we get out of this elevator?"

* * *

"He had some sort of seizure." Dr. Fraiser explained to the worried group. "Another brain scan shows signs of still increasing activity. His brain just can't handle it."

"What can we do?" Hammond asked in concern.

Janet shrugged. "I'm not really sure. Medically, there's nothing I can do to fix it. Somehow, we have to reverse the effects."

"Well, can't we just reverse engineer the doohickey?" Jack looked from Janet to Hammond.

"I can't say, you'll have to talk to Dr. Lee."

Jack turned with raised eyebrows to Hammond, who nodded. "Go ahead."

Jack and Teal'c left the room, heading to the science labs.

"What's going to happen to him if we can't reverse this?" The General asked.

"His organs will begin to shut down, ceasing to work anymore."

"How long does he have?"

"A few days… at the most."

"What about Major Carter?"

"She still has a high temperature, and to be honest, Sir, It looks like she's losing the battle. I'm hoping that if Dr. Lee can do what we want, it will work for Sam too."

Hammond nodded sadly. "Thank you, Doctor."

Janet wanted to give him reassurance that everything was going to be ok, that they'd figure everything out. But now she wasn't so sure if she could keep that promise. As every hour went on, a small flicker of hope disappeared, which made her angry. After so many years of facing death over and over again, how could one inanimate object be the death of two heroes?

Janet returned the General's nod without a word, and retreated back into her office.

* * *

A/N: Happy Holidays once again everyone! And look, as a little present I didn't leave a huge cliffhanger :-D


	9. Chapter 9

"**Mens Mentis"**

**

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**

A/N: A short chapter, but hopefully a good read none-the-less. Thank you as always for all of the great reviews, you guys keep me writing.

Also, I've gotten my forum up and running, so if you want to talk, or ask questions, that's the place to go.

* * *

-Chapter 9-

The triangular device sat in the middle of a table in one of the Isolation Rooms. A million different wires and cables connected it to various blinking machines.

Several scientists in white lab coats bustled from one screen to another, scribbling data on their clipboards.

Amongst all of this stood Jack and Teal'c, watching Dr. Lee as he inspected the device without laying a finger on it.

"So," Jack prodded impatiently, "can you do this, or not?"

Dr. Lee turned to Jack. He noticed that the Colonel was in obvious need of a long night's sleep, but he wasn't stupid enough to point that out. After the next few days he was sure he'll be spending in the lab, he'll probably look like Colonel O'Neill too.

The doctor opened his mouth to explain the dilemma when Daniel Jackson came stumbling through the door, startling a nearby scientist. His face was similar to Jack's, even though he'd been unconscious for several hours previous. Not only that, but his face was unnaturally pale.

His eyes opened wide when he spotted the device sitting in the middle of the room.

"I thought I said that nobody could touch it!" His voice was surprisingly strong for his outward appearance.

"Easy Daniel!" Jack said, raising a hand. "Nobody actually touched it. It took a while, but we managed to move it without any physical contact."

"It was still risky," Daniel replied indignantly.

"Wait a minute!" Jack exclaimed. "Didn't you just have a seizure? Why did Janet even let you out of the Infirmary? She did let you out, right?"

"Yes she let me out. How else would I have known you were here? She let me go because Sam thinks she knows a way to fix this, and I'm the only one who can talk to her." Daniel paused and turned to Dr. Lee. "Sam said that if the device works by an energy wave, you should be able to create an opposite wave to reverse the effects." He looked at Dr. Lee, hoping he'd said that right.

"I already thought of that."

Daniel turned to Jack. "_You _did?"

"Don't look so surprised."

"Yes, as easy as that does sound, it's not." Dr. Lee said before the two could go any further. "Before I can do anything like that, I need the actual wave signature."

"And how do we get that?" Jack asked.

"The device has to be activated."

"We can't do that!" Daniel cut in quickly.

'_Can't Daniel just do it again? He's already been affected, it wouldn't hurt him.' _Jack thought.

"Thanks Jack, as much as I'd love to get knocked unconscious again, the device doesn't respond to me anymore." He demonstrated by reaching out and touching the non-reactive device.

'_What was that about?'_ Dr. Lee looked at Daniel in confusion.

"Sorry, Jack though… never mind."

"So, basically we can't do this unless someone gets zapped by that thing?" Jack queried.

Dr. Lee nodded. "I'm afraid so."

"I'll do it." "I will do it." Jack and Teal'c offered at the same time.

Daniel and Lee were quick to push the idea away with exclamations of "No way!" "Don't be stupid!" Daniel of course being the latter.

"There's no other way, you said it yourself." Jack stated. He had obviously already made up his mind.

"Even if either of you do, I can't promise that it will help. You could end up being stuck just like Daniel." Dr. Lee explained.

"Believe me Jack, this really isn't what you want to do." Daniel was listening intently to Jack's thoughts, and knew what he was planning to do.

"General Hammond and Dr. Fraiser would never approve it anyway," Dr. Lee said.

But Jack was already reaching for the device.

"Jack!" Daniel yelled, drawing everybody's attention to the wayward colonel.

The device snapped open, revealing the small, red dome on the inside of the base.

"I'm doing this, Daniel. You can read my thoughts."

Daniel knew that nothing would stop jack except perhaps a well placed bullet. His mind was full of determination to help Daniel and Sam, uncaring of what happened to himself in the process.

"Bill," Daniel said to Dr. Lee. "Set up whatever you need to record the device."

"You can't be serious!"

"He is," Jack said. "Everybody clear the room!"

The gapping scientists looked at each other before filing out of the room. Dr. Lee began setting up the computer. He gave Jack one last glare before leaving himself.

"I wish you well, O'Neill." Teal'c bowed his head to his friend, and left the room.

"I'll watch from the observation room." Daniel said. "You'd better hope that this works or Hammond'll kill you." Daniel turned and left without another word. The door slid shut behind him and he headed to the room next door.

As he reached the window, Jack was holding his fingers uncertainly above the dome. His eyes met Daniel and the uncertainty was replaced with determination. He firmly pressed his fingers to the dome.

It lit up, but from Daniel's position he heard no sound. Moments later, with no outward sign from the device, Jack suddenly collapsed on the floor, the device falling from his hand.

The dome light faded, and it snapped shut again, lying innocently on the floor.

Daniel closed his eyes, sighing in resignation. He collapsed onto the chair behind him.

It was a never-ending nightmare.

* * *

A/N: Happy New Year to everyone!


	10. Chapter 10

**"Mens Mentis"**

* * *

AN: I know, I'm slacking again, but I've just gotten a job and any free time I have is basically gone. Hopefully this long chapter will make up for the the huge gap between updates. This one may get a little confusing towards the end, but I hope you enjoy it.

Non Sam/Jack shippers may want to close their eyes through a lot of this.

* * *

Spoilers: Paradise Lost, 100 days, Window of Opportunity, some previous spoilers apply

-Chapter 10-

Airmen ran to the sides of the hallway as the facilities' general barreled towards the infirmary. He sped into the room and was rather surprised to see Daniel Jackson standing in the middle of the room next to Teal'c.

"Dr. Jackson, you're alright?" He looked around the room in confusion. "Is Major Carter alright?"

Daniel looked to Teal'c for a moment before replying, "We're both fine."

"I don't understand; why was I called for a medical emergency?"

Daniel looked to Teal'c for help. He didn't want his head ripped off.

"Colonel O'Neill activated the device."

Daniel winced. The Jaffa had no subtlety.

Hammond's face was filled with disbelief. "I'm sorry Teal'c; I must have heard you wrong, because as foolish as the Colonel can be at times, he couldn't be stupid enough to do that."

"I assure you, General Hammond," Teal'c replied. "Colonel O'Neill did indeed activate the device and has succumbed to its effects in an endeavor to help Daniel Jackson and Major Carter."

Daniel took an instinctive step away from the General, but was quick to explain. "Dr. Lee was certain that he couldn't reverse the effects unless he first saw and recorded how the device works."

"So, he decided to go right ahead and get infected too!"

"I wouldn't exactly call it 'getting infected'…" Daniel replied meekly.

"Dr. Jackson! My patience is running very thin with the pair of you!" Hammond's voice raised a couple of volumes.

"Well, the Colonel's symptoms are congruous with Dr. Jackson and Major Carter's symptoms when they first returned from the planet." Janet spoke, appearing amongst the group.

Saved by the doctor.

"He's in a deep sleep." Janet continued.

"Then he will remain unconscious for some time." Teal'c concluded.

"Have you heard anything from SG-13?" Janet asked of the General.

"They just got back. They found no sign that the Tok'ra had even been there, and the Asgard still haven't returned our attempts at communication. It looks like it's going to be up to us to figure this one out." Hammond sighed. "Let me know when Colonel O'Neill wakes, I want to speak to him."

* * *

Sam walked along the path, soaking in the warm sun and balmy breeze. The park was completely silent; not another person in sight. There was no movement in the houses that surrounded the park, and no cars in sight. Sam was truly alone, and that was how she wanted it.

Footsteps on the path behind her caught her attention. "What did Dr. Lee say?" She asked, stopping and turning around.

Standing just a few steps away, in a pair of jeans and a grey Air Force shirt, stood Jack. "Nice day for a walk in the park."

"Colonel?"

"Carter, he acknowledged her with a nod. "Nice place you've got going here." He looked around, recognizing the park as one he'd driven by many times on the way to Carter's house. Not that he goes there all the time.

When she didn't reply, Jack turned to face her quisitive face. He shrugged. "I kind of turned the device on."

"What?" Sam looked at him in disbelief. "Are you stupid?"

Jack raised his eyebrows. "Apparently,"

"Why did you do that?"

"Dr. Lee said that he wouldn't be able to do whatever it is he needs to do without recording something to do with activating the device…" Jack frowned thinking over what he'd just said, before nodding in confirmation. "Something like that."

Sam nodded. "That makes sense; I don't know why I didn't think of that. I can't believe that Hammond agreed to it, though."

"Yeah, me either." Jack shrugged, and they fell into an awkward silence.

* * *

There were now three gurneys occupying the Isolation Room. Jack and Sam were unconscious in two of them, and perched on the third was Daniel and Teal'c. They sat in a companionable silence, looking back and forth between their inert teammates.

"How about a game of poker?" Daniel suggested.

"Do you think that to be a wise idea, Daniel Jackson?"

Daniel remembered the last time he'd played against Teal'c and the loss of weight in his pockets after. "Right, fish then?"

"My experience of fishing with Colonel O'Neill was most unpleasant. Also, I do not believe that General Hammond will allow you to leave the base at this time."

"No, I meant the card game named 'fish'."

Teal'c thought about this for a moment, "Would mot your ability to read my mind defeat the purpose of the game, Daniel Jackson?"

"Snap then?"

A small smile spread across Teal'cs face. "Indeed."

* * *

Jack and Sam sat in silence. Both were sitting on a swing. Jack was making a hole in the dirt with his shoe while Sam stared out at the empty park.

"I've been worried."

Sam turned to look at him, her eyebrows raised. His brown eyes remained focused on the ground. She began to think she'd imagined his words when he stopped digging at the ground and turned to face her.

Jack admitted, "When Daniel woke up and you didn't, I was worried."

"Oh?" She wasn't sure what to say, what was there to say? "I'm sure you would've been just as worried if it were Daniel or Teal'c."

"Right, of course," Jack replied instantly, and returned to digging in the dirt.

Sam watched him for a moment, studying his profile. It was always strange to see him in civvies; she was so used to the standard BDUs. It always reminded her of how easy her CO was on the eyes.

She quickly looked away, embarrassed by the train of her thoughts. Awkward didn't even begin to explain how she felt at that current moment.

It suddenly grew very dark and Sam looked up to the sky to find that it had gone, and in its place stood a ceiling. She looked down to realize she was in the SGC locker room, sitting on the bench in the middle of the room next to Jack.

Jack looked around in shock. What had just happened?

The door opened, and Jack walked into the room wearing full gear, consternation written across his features.

"Whoa!" Jack jumped up from the bench in surprise. His double paid them no attention, walking straight to his locker and throwing his cap rather forcefully into it.

Teal'c entered moments later, and stood stoically behind the frustrated Colonel.

"I don't want to hear it." Jack said, glancing behind himself to see Teal'c. The Jaffa remained silent.

"Good, because I'm not in the mood." He lowered bowed his head for a moment before turning around, the silence getting to him. "Alright, what?"

"I know this!" Jack realized from beside Sam. "This was when you were stuck on Prometheus. We were going to every possible planet that the Prometheus could have stopped at. What exactly is going on?"

But Sam ignored him, intent on seeing the rest of the conversation before her.

"When Colonel Maybourne and yourself were stranded offworld," Teal'c began. "Major Carter felt a similar sense of frustration; she despaired at the thought of never seeing you again."

Sam felt her cheeks redden, and the room grew dark again. Jack and Teal'c disappeared. Sam stood, and she and Jack looked at each other. They were still in the locker room, but the lights were now off.

The sound of the door opening had them turning around again. Perched on the bench was Sam, sitting in the darkness. Appearing in the doorway once more was Teal'c.

"Major Carter?"

"Teal'c, this is the women's locker room."

Jack's heart constricted as he realized that she'd been crying, and probably still was.

"It appears that there is no one else here but you, and you are fully clothed."

"True."

Teal'c walked into the room and sat down beside her as she wiped tears from her cheeks.

"Are you alright, Major Carter?" For once, emotion passed Teal'c's emotionless mask, concern for his friend breaking through.

Sam nodded, barely holding back more tears. "I'm fine, yeah."

"Have you given up hope of finding O'Neill?" Teal'c asked, staring forward.

"Hope? No. I'm just starting to think that Dr. Lee is right. I don't think the doorway's the answer. It's been almost a month, Teal'c, if there was a way back…" The tears were falling freely now. "It's just … it feels like we just lost Daniel, and I don't know if I can…" She let out a sob, and Teal'c reached out to put his arm around her shoulders. Sam turned to him, wrapping her own arms around him.

Jack turned to the Sam standing next to him. "I had no idea…" he whispered.

"It wouldn't be the first time, would it?" Sam said before she'd even realized what she was saying.

"What do you mean by that?" Jack asked cautiously.

The locker room disappeared from around them, and Carter's lab appeared. Sam was sitting in her usual spot at her computer. Janet walked in with a fresh cup of coffee.

"You worked through the night again?"

"Yeah, I have a lot of work to do. Thank you." Sam said, taking the cup of coffee.

"Look, Sam, there's no doubt you're going to solve this, but you have to accept the fact it's going to take time."

"Yeah well, if I think that way it could take months."

Janet sighed. "Daniel says the Tollan could have a ship in the vicinity of Edora some time early next year."

"He shouldn't have to wait that long."

"You miss him." Janet stated.

"Yeah."

"Is this a problem?"

"No," Sam shook her head. "No, of course not."

Jack cringed as realization dawned on him and it became lighter, sunshine beaming down on them as they appeared on Edora.

"So when the third MALP sent back just a few seconds of Telemetry…" Sam was telling Jack, "We knew the 'gate was horizon-"But Jack walked right by her "-tal."

"Is he alright?" Sam asked Daniel.

"He's fine; I just don't think he was expecting to go home again."

Both Sams watched as Jack held a conversation Laira. Sam looked away, feeling that everything she'd worked for in the last months was for nothing.

"Well, I feel like an ass." Jack said quietly as the people around them disappeared. "You should've said something."

"Said what? That I worked for three months with barely any sleep, and you hardly even mumbled a 'thank you'?" Shook her head, "Never mind, it was 4 years ago now, it doesn't matter."

Sam sighed and turned around. "Let's just go back to the park." She walked over and sat down on the swing that reappeared with the park.

Jack stood, staring after her, mentally kicking himself. This was all just confusing the hell out of him.

He walked over and sat down in the swing next to her. To his disappointment, the hole he'd worked so hard on earlier had disappeared.

"Is that why you started dating Pete, because you thought I didn't care anymore?"

Sam froze; she hadn't been expecting her new boyfriend to enter the conversation. She turned to see Jack looking uncertainly at her. A flicker of anger ignited in her. Where was he to go and blame her for finding someone else when there seemed there was no hope left?

"Because I do…" Jack continued before Sam could get a word in. "Care about you that is. As much as I did three years ago.

"Because I care about her… a lot more than I'm supposed to."

Sam's eyes rested on the man who appeared between them in the middle of the park. His form was strapped to a chair and a Tok'ra recall device was attached to his temple.

Jack continued to stare across at Sam. "I haven't said anything since, and I should have. I realize that now. I understand that you've moved on, even though there may not have been anything to move on from. I can't blame you for that."

"Samantha, I'm a figment of your imagination, and you're going to call me 'Sir'?"

Jack turned around to find himself on the Prometheus. A concussed Major Carter was sitting across from himself.

"Sorry, old habit."

"When I was stuck on Prometheus I had hallucinations." Sam explained, stepping up beside him. "You, Daniel, Teal'c, and my father all appeared to me."

"One more thing."

Suddenly, their counterparts were embracing in a brief, but passionate kiss.

Jack couldn't help but smile. So, he wasn't the only one.

"Colonel, what are you doing out of uniform?" General Hammond question the colonel dressed in a bright yellow shirt and black beanie.

"Handing you my resignation." The klaxons were blaring throughout the Control Room.

Sam appeared from under one of the consoles. "Resigning? What for?"

"So I can do this." Jack pulled Sam to him, firmly planting a kiss on her lips.

"Time loop." Jack stated.

Sam looked to Jack. She realized they were now both clad in black clothing. Jack wore a beanie on his head. On the floor near their feet were the discarded, useless armbands. They were completely alone.

Jack reached out with his hand. In mid-air it collided with a force-shield. His hand dropped to his side.

They stared at each other in silence, realization dawning on them. It was when they'd both realized how they truly felt.

There was an explosion behind Sam, deep in the mountain, but neither of them so much as flinched.

The shield between them fell, but still, neither of them moved.

Jack took a hesitant step forward and placed his hand on her forearm.

Sam's heart sped up, her chin rising so her eyes could follow his.

Jack leaned in, ever so slightly, and Sam instinctively stepped closer, closing every millimeter of space left between them.

* * *

A/N: Ok, did all that make sense? Please let me know what you think! 


	11. Chapter 11

"Mens Mentis"

* * *

_Jack took a hesitant step forward and placed his hand on her forearm._

_Sam's heart sped up, her chin rising so her eyes could follow his._

_Jack leaned in, ever so slightly, and Sam instinctively stepped closer, closing every millimeter of space left between them._

* * *

A/N: Better late than never! hides behind Jack 

-Chapter 11-

Time and space seemed to disappear around them. Maybe it did; but Sam didn't know, didn't care. Everything she knew were the deep, brown eyes that stared intently down at her.

Her heart was racing, her breathing erratic. Jack's face was merely inches from hers. She closed her eyes, taking a deep, shaky breath.

His lips were so gentle that at first she didn't even realize they were on hers. Jack's hand moved to the back of her head. With this, he deepened the kiss, and placed his other hand on the small of her back to embrace her tightly.

Sam kissed back, placing her own hand on the back of his neck. She felt that if she let go, everything would cease to exist. None of this would be real.

* * *

Daniel opened his eyes and looked around. The hallway he was standing in looked eerily familiar. His experience with the armbands was one he wouldn't forget.

He began walking down the hallway, listening for any sounds while wondering why he'd been brought there.

When he rounded the nearest corner, his eyes nearly hit the roof.

Both dressed in black, and standing _very_ close together, were Sam and Jack. Although Sam had her back to him, Daniel knew they were kissing.

It took a moment for the initial shock to wear off, but after it did, Daniel smiled.

Quietly, he turned around and back around the corner.

* * *

When they finally pulled apart, Sam help her eyes tightly closed. If she opened them, would everything be gone? Would this just be another hallucination?

Hesitantly, she opened her eyes and found Jack staring giddily down at her. Sam laughed at his expression, a huge smile breaking across her face.

"Sam?"

Jack and Sam jumped apart at the sound of Daniel's voice who appeared around the corner a moment later.

"Hey guys!" He beamed innocently. He had to fight back a knowing grin. Even if he hadn't just stumbled in on their little make out session, their bright red faces gave them away.

"I see you made it, Jack."

"All we have to do is get Teal'c to join us and we can have a big party."

"Right, so what have you two been up to?" Daniel grinned.

"Nothing," Sam and Jack instantly replied.

"Sounds like fun."

"Something like that." Jack grinned and looked at Sam whose face turned an even darker shade of red.

It took all of Daniel's self control to keep a straight face.

* * *

"Daniel went to sleep?" Janet observed upon walking into the Isolation Room.

"Indeed," Teal'c replied from his seat.

Janet looked at the three beds in the room which contained the other three members of SG-1. "It's strange to think that they're all communicating with each other in their sleep."

"I am comfortable in the knowledge that Major Carter is not alone." Teal'c responded. "Has there been any improvement?"

"I'm afraid not Teal'c. There's nothing I can do for her." Janet sighed. "It's up to Dr. Lee to figure this one out."

Suddenly, one of the bed-ridden members began to stir.

"Oy! What a headache!"

* * *

Sam, Jack, and Daniel had found themselves in Jack's living room, each with a beer in hand.

When Jack disappeared, Sam placed the half empty bottle on the table and looked to Daniel.

"I didn't want to say anything in front of the Colonel, but Dr. Lee needs to hurry up.

The content smile on Daniel's face turned to a frown. "What do you mean." He shifted slightly on the couch.

"I'm getting weaker. I've felt myself slipping away for a while now." Sam bowed her head. "I'm dying, Daniel."

"Daniel shook his head. "Don't say that! Dr. Lee will figure this out, and you'll be fine."

"If he doesn't hurry up…"

Daniel grew with concern. Was that fear he saw in Samantha Carter's eyes?

He stood, pulled her from the chair upon which she sat, and pulled her into a hug. "It'll work out, it always does." Daniel only hoped that his words would ring true.

* * *

"I think I may have gotten it!" Dr. Lee said excitedly as he ran into the Isolation Room and then ran out again.

Janet, Jack and Teal'c all looked at the empty doorway.

Bill appeared again. "Well? Are you going to come or not?"

Without waiting for the Doctor's approval, Jack jumped out of the bed and followed Dr. Lee. Teal'c and an exasperated Janet also followed.

In the hallway they ran into General Hammond. Jack stopped short and cautiously eyed him.

"Colonel O'Neill, what is going on?"

Jack swallowed, "Well, Sir, Dr. Lee thinks that he might have figured this thing out. We were just on our way to test it."

"And did you plan on running this by me?"

"I thought Dr. Lee would've already done that." Lied Jack.

"Is this going to be safe?" Hammond looked to Janet.

"I don't know, Sir, you'll have to ask Dr. Lee."

"I'm warning you, Colonel," Hammond said, his attention returning to Jack. "I'm past being patient with you on this."

"Yes, Sir" Jack replied to his commanding officer before following him to the lab.

"I think that I've got it." Lee said once again when they all walked into the room.

"'_Think'_?" Jack raised his eyebrows.

"Pretty sure."

Teal'c tilted his head to the side.

"About 90 sure…"

"Is this safe?" Hammond repeated his earlier question.

"It shouldn't harm the Colonel in any way. It's just like a radio signal, if you will, it should only affect the area of his brain that has been activated… At least that's how I think it works. This technology is way beyond everything else we've come across. Even though this is-"

"Dr. Lee!" Hammond interrupted.

"Right, as I was saying, it won't harm Colonel O'Neill at all."

Everyone turned to look at Jack.

"Well you all know how much I love playing the guinea pig."

"Everyone but Colonel O'Neill will need to leave the room." Lee explained. "As soon as you're ready, Colonel, just hit the 'enter' key." He motioned to the computer which was hooked up to several different pieces of equipment.

The others filed out of room, and Jack had a sudden sense of déjà vu as the door slid shut tightly behind them. He turned to the computer. "Here goes nothing." He muttered before hitting enter.

Nothing happened. Well, at least he felt nothing. Little graphs on the computer screen began to jump to life, lines bouncing all over the place. This lasted for only seconds before everything returned to normal again.

Jack looked up to he Observation Room. At least he wasn't dead. "I got nothing."

"Do you hear any thoughts?" Lee spoke into the microphone, his voice echoing into the room.

Jack listened for a moment. "Nope."

'_I can't believe it actually worked!'_

"What! I thought you said you were 90 sure!" Jack exclaimed to Dr. Lee.

His face turned slightly red. "I did…"

Jack sighed, and looked at the others. "It didn't work."

"Are you certain, O'Neill?"

"Yeah, Teal'c, I'm sure."

* * *

The story is almost finished! I hope it's not getting too boring or anything :-/ As always, I really do appreciate feedback! Let me know what you think!

Oh, and were all questions answered? If not feel free to ask more.


	12. Chapter 12

"**Mens Mentis"**

-Chapter 12-

"Please Daniel! You've died the most, and you're always getting injured. Do you need me to make a list?" Sam laughed at Daniel.

"No, I don't think so, but if you continue like you have been lately you'll be able to give me a run for my money."

Daniel sat his newly emptied bottle on the tale where it joined numerous others.

"I've drank several bottles already and I'm not even drunk yet." Daniel looked at Sam. "I'm not sure whether that's a good thing or not."

Sam laughed at him and stood. "Let me get more then." She entered the kitchen and opened the fridge. Somehow, no matter how many bottles they took out, it was always full.

In the living room, Daniel picked up the remote and turned on the TV. Finding his favourite show on as soon as the screen flickered to life, he settled comfortably against the cushions.

Glass suddenly shattered in the kitchen and Daniel laughed. "I guess I'm the only sober one here!" He yelled into the kitchen.

"Sam?" He called again when there was no reply. His voice took on an edge of concern.

"Sam, you ok?" He stood and peered over the ledge into the kitchen. Sam stood infront of the refrigerator. The two bottles of beer she'd just gotten were now shattered at her feet. Her face was pale and unusually full of fear. She flickered before him, disappearing for a moment before reappearing.

"Damn!" Daniel ran into the kitchen. "Sam!"

"I can't-" Before she could finish, she disappeared.

* * *

"No, I'm sure I can figure this out."

Jack, Teal'c, Janet, and General Hammond all looked at Dr. Lee.

"Honestly."

They'd all returned to the room with Jack, and Dr. Lee was going over the results collected from his failed test.

The base klaxons suddenly wailed to life.

"Code Blue in the Isolation Room!" Came an announcement through the speakers. "Dr. Fraiser, please report to the Isolation Room."

Jack's entire body froze. His hairs stood on end. It couldn't be.

His eyes focused on Janet's for a brief moment before he ran out of the room. As fast as his legs would carry him, he ran to the Isolation Room. He was vaguely aware of others scurrying after him and SGC personnel moving to the side of the hallways.

His fear was confirmed when he reached the corridor outside of his destination. An endless, monotonous tone met his ears.

Inside the room several nurses were rushing around in a panicked frenzy.

She lay in the middle of all of the chaos; still, soundless.

Janet entered moments later, yelling orders around the room.

Jack was pushed out of the way. Hammond and Teal'c joined him but he didn't acknowledge them. He couldn't tear his eyes away.

The paddles were charged.

"Clear!"

Her body lifted off the bed. The paddles were charged again.

This couldn't be happening. There had to be something he could do. He'd saved her every other time. Now wasn't any different.

"Clear!"

The dame line wouldn't move!

Voices began invading his mind. Everybody's thoughts plagued him. No! They weren't going to give up!

It was a jumbled mess. Which thoughts were even his?

'_I'm sorry, Jack.'_

Was that-

"Sam!"

Jack turned, along with several others, to see Daniel jump awake.

The young archaeologist jumped out of bed and rushed to his friend's bedside, but, just like Jack, he was simply pushed out of the way.

"What happened?" Jack asked Daniel.

"I don't know." He looked at the man standing next to him. Although Jack was a lot older, he never really looked it, until now. He looked like a worn, heartbroken old man.

'_She told me that she'd felt herself slipping for a while now.'_

Jack was so surprised to hear Daniel's voice that it took him a moment to register what the voice had really said.

'_What! Why didn't she say anything to me?'_

'_She didn't want you to worry.'_

'_Yet she wanted you to?'_

'_You know why, Jack!'_

'_Please enlighten me.'_

'_I saw you two kissing, but believe me, I figured it out a long time ago.'_

Jack's head dropped and a small sigh escaped. The façade crumbled.

'Daniel, I don't… I can't…' 

'_I know, me either.'_

'_Yet we're just standing here.' _Jack felt like punching a wall.

It felt liked he'd been standing there forever, when in reality it had barely been minutes.

"General Hammond, Sir!"

Dr. Lee came rushing into the room. He stopped to catch his breath in front of the General. Behind him another scientist walked in pushing a cart with the mens mentis on top.

"I don't have time for this now, Doctor." Hammond looked at Lee

"I think you do, Sir." Bill boldly replied. "I know what I did wrong and this time I'm 200 sure this is going to work."

"There's no time to test it! Everybody out!" Jack ordered.

"General?" Janet looked away from Sam for the briefest of moments.

"Do it! I want everyone to leave the room." Hammond said.

"Same as before." Bill said before leaving, "Just hit the enter key."

Reluctantly, Janet left Sam's side. "Good luck," She said to Daniel and Jack who remained behind.

"Thanks," Daniel replied.

Seconds later the room was emptied except for the three members of SG-1.

A crowd grew in the Observation Room.

'_This will work, Jack.'_

'_It has to.'_

Jack took a lingering look at Sam, and hit the button.

* * *

A/N: well, this is the second last chapter. I had the option of either having one long final one, or two short ones with a huge cliffhanger. Obviously I chose the latter. But before you come running with the torches and pitchforks, I've already finished the last chapter, and I'm planning to post it early next week, so no long wait!

Let me know what you think:-D


	13. Chapter 13

I was blown away by the amount of reviews I got in one day! Thanks everyone! You guys are great! I promised to get it up early this week, so I did. It wasn't really that long of a wait was it?

Well, here it is: the end.

**"Mens Mentis"**

* * *

'_This will work, Jack.'_

'_It has to.'_

Jack took a lingering look at Sam, and hit the button.

* * *

**-Chapter 13-**

Again, Jack felt nothing. He looked to Daniel and they both turned to Sam.

The only sound was the monitor that still gave off a continuous beep.

"Come on Sam!" Daniel urged, taking her hand. "You can do this!"

Jack remained silent by Sam's side. It had to have worked!

Daniel looked helplessly at Jack, but Jack wasn't giving up, he never would.

"I need you, Sam." He whispered so only Sam and Daniel could hear. "Don't leave me now."

Silence.

And then a beep, and another.

Jack couldn't believe his ears, but the monitor said it too; Sam had a heart beat.

Jack sighed in relief and Daniel broke into a huge smile. "She did it."

Sam's eyes sleepily opened. "Colonel?"

It was now Jack's turn to smile. "Hey Carter, I thought we'd lost you for a moment there."

"For a moment I think you did." Sam gave him a small smile. "This _is_ real, right?"

"Yeah, it's all over."

Daniel squeezed her hand. "It's good to have you back."

"Thanks Daniel."

At that moment Janet, Hammond, and Teal'c, along with various other nurses and Dr. Lee, all filed into the room.

Dr. Fraiser instantly began checking Sam's vitals and Jack once again found himself being pushed out of the way.. He comfortably slipped to the back of the group so that they could all talk to her. She was alive, and nothing could make him happier at that moment.

* * *

When Sam opened her eyes the Infirmary was darkened. She found Daniel sitting in the chair beside the bed. He had his head buried in a book.

"Interesting?"

Daniel looked up, surprised. "Hey!" He smiled. "Sleep well?"

"Dreamless." Sam grinned. "And before you ask, I feel fine. I honestly don't need to be here."

"Janet's just being cautious."

Sam sighed. "I know. So, what are you reading?"

"One of the journals we found. Dr. Ryan managed to translate a lot the last couple of days. Some of this is just amazing!"

Sam smirked.

"What? What's that look for?"

"Nothing, I'm just hoping to meet this Dr. Ryan soon."

Daniel frowned. "What has Jack been telling you?"

"Actually, it was Teal'c."

"That sneaky Jaffa!" Daniel exclaimed with a smile.

Sam laughed. "So, what about you? Everything back to normal?"

"Yep, Janet said our brain activity was back to normal. Although Jack insists that he has less in there now than before all of this happened. He won't stop pestering Bill."

Sam smiled before growing serious. She sat up and looked into Daniel's eyes. "Listen, I wanted to say thank you."

Daniel shrugged. "Dr. Lee's the one who figured it out."

"I mean for being with me when I was unconscious; for keeping me company."

"You're welcome, but that's what friends are for." Daniel replied. "It was good spending time together, though, wasn't it? Even if it was a little crazy."

Sam smiled. "Yeah, we haven't done that in a while."

"So we should start spending time together again, you and me."

"Sounds like a plan."

Also, you know you can tell me anything." Daniel said earnestly.

"You're awake!"

They both turned to see Jack walking into the room. "I was beginning to think that after being unconscious for so long you were getting addicted to it."

Daniel noticed that Sam's smile grew the tiniest bit whenever Jack was around, and he smiled himself. Things were ok.

"And when I mean anything, I mean _anything._" Daniel looked to Jack- who looked a little confused- and back to Sam. "But I'm going to. I'll come back in the morning."

"Thanks Daniel." He nodded to Jack before leaving the room.

Jack grinned and handed Sam a cup of blue jello before taking Daniel's seat. "I thought you might want something healthy." He gave her a lopsided grin. "How are you doing?

"I'm fine. I can't wait to get out of here and sleep in my own bed."

"More sleeping? Major Carter, are you telling me that you're not planning to return straight to you lab?" Jack mocked her.

"Actually, I wouldn't mind taking a look at that device."

Jack's jaw practically hit the floor. "Please tell me you're kidding! Even if you're not, Hammond's had it locked away in a nice metal box and shipped off to area 51 where I'm sure they'll be able to royally mess things up."

Sam grinned, and they fell into one of their comfortable silences. She began eating her jello, a certain event coming to mind…

"We kissed."

She almost choked. Apparently she wasn't the only one. "Yes we did," She replied after swallowing.

"And…"

"And?" She wasn't exactly sure where he was going with this.

"I want to do it again."

Sam raised her eyebrows. She definitely hadn't been expecting _that_.

"But…"

"Not right now." She finished for him.

"Yeah." 'S_oon' _Jack thought to himself before nodding. "We're ok with that?"

Sam smiled at the familiar question and nodded.

"Good." Jack stood, looking down at her. After a pause he took her hand in his, and brushed his thumb against the top of her hand. "Night Carter."

"Good night." She smiled back at his affectionate gaze.

After he turned and left, Sam placed the jello cup on the table next to the bed and sank back into the pillows. Closing her eyes, she couldn't remember the last time she'd gone to sleep with such a feeling of content. Perhaps everything really would work out in the end.

* * *

Sam descended the stairs into the control room and spotted the Colonel with a mug of coffee.

He didn't look at all surprised to see her back at work so soon.

"Sir, did you do your interview yet?" She'd back barely 4 hours and she'd already gotten a lot done, including an interview with the video crew that was on the base.

"Yeah."

"Mary Steenburgen?"

"She's so hot!" Sam laughed.

Jack turned and began walking out of the control Room. Sam began to follow, falling in step beside him.

"Carter, can you tell me the reason for this…documentary thing again."

"Didn't you read the memo?" Jack simply looked at her. Of course not. "Officially it's to chronicle the one thousandth trip through the Stargate, but I think it's more than that."

"1000 you say?"

"I know, it's hard to believe we've been at it this long."

"There should be cake."

Sam laughed and Jack couldn't help but grin back like an idiot. "Lunch?

"Sure."

**-The End-**

* * *

A/N: Well, there it is. I'd always wanted to finish it like this, so if it's not shippy enough for you... too bad ;-) Or if it's too shippy for you, too bad also. lol.

Thank you to everyone who read this and who reviewed along the way. Your feedback is greatly appreciated as it did keep me going.

Coming up next I have a couple of Atlantis stories planned out, and my muse is starting to attack me with yet another SG-1 story which may appear somewhere in the future.

Thanks everyone!


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